CKE: Last month’s comps rise 2.6%; Carl’s Jr. rolls patty meltCKE: Last month’s comps rise 2.6%; Carl’s Jr. rolls patty melt

CARPINTERIA Calif. CKE Restaurants Inc., parent of the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. brands, Wednesday reported a 2.6-percent year-to-year jump in same-store sales at all corporate restaurants for the four weeks ended Aug. 13 and said Carl’s Jr. had launched a new Patty Melt Burger as a limited-time offering.

The rollout follows the success of the Patty Melt Thickburger introduced by Hardee’s in May. A clone of the diner-style patty melts popular in the 1950s and ’60s, the new sandwich is a charbroiled beef patty smothered with grilled onions and American cheese on grilled rye bread. Franchisor-suggested prices are $2.89 for a single, $3.89 for a double and $4.59 for a Six Dollar Burger version.

CKE said its blended monthly same-store sales result reflected a flat performance by Carl’s Jr. and a 5-percent increase by Hardee’s. In the same period ended last August, blended same-store sales rose 3.8 percent.

For the full second quarter, also ended Aug. 13, CKE’s blended same-store sales rose 2.4 percent, reflecting same-store sales gains of 2 percent at Carl’s Jr. and 2.9 percent at Hardee’s.

The company also reported that total sales from Carl’s Jr. corporate locations totaled $138.9 million in the latest quarter, a slight uptick from year-ago quarterly sales of $138.4 million. Sales from corporate Hardee’s restaurants totaled $148.8 million, down from $150.6 million in sales reported last year.

Carpinteria-based CKE and its franchisees operate 1,101 Carl’s Jr. and 1,905 Hardee’s restaurants nationwide.