Joe Guith, the former CEO of Church’s Texas Chicken, on Thursday was named CEO of CKE Restaurants, the Franklin, Tennessee-based parent of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s.
Guith will replace Sarah Spiegel, a board member of the Roark Capital-owned CKE who had been serving as interim CEO since November, when she replaced former CEO Max Wetzel. Guith left Church’s last month, when he was replaced by COO Roland Gonzalez.
CKE cited Guith’s experience in franchising, restaurant management and expansion of consumer brands, as well as his efforts to rebuild relationships with Church’s franchisees, which led to improvements in unit profitability, sales and traffic.
That work will be important for CKE, whose brands have historically underperformed the broader fast-food sector, particularly Hardee’s.
System sales at the 2,000-unit Hardee’s are down 4.7% from 2018 through 2023, the last year for which data was available, according to Restaurant Business sister company Technomic.
Average unit volumes at Hardee’s were just $1.2 million in 2023, far lower than its competing, burger-focused fast-food chains.
The 1,700-unit Carl’s has done better. Its system sales are up 16% over that same period, including 12% in the U.S. Unit volumes were $1.5 million.
“Joe brings a blend of industry expertise and visionary leadership that perfectly aligns with our goals for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s,” Spiegel said in a statement.
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