Hardee’s reopens on Hwy 13 under new ownership
Hardees in Medford has reopened under new ownership.
The restaurant, which had closed late last fall officially reopened on Wednesday morning with a new look, upgraded equipment and a mix of new and familiar faces.
Kevin and Kaitlynn Hanusa of Rice Lake are the new owner operators of the Medford Hardees. The couple own five restaurants with locations in Stevens Point, Rice Lake, Prairie du Chien in Wisconsin and one in Waukon, Iowa.
“Medford is a nice location,” Kevin said of the Medford Hardees. With daily traffic counts of 20,000 vehicles a day on Hwy 13, he said there is a lot of potential business for both those traveling through the area and for local residents.
He said the response he has gotten from people in the community has been terrific noting the people he has spoken to have really wanted the restaurant to reopen.
“It is a win win for us and the community,” he said praising how nice the community has been.
He said the location gives a lot of visibility to travelers and that with the location between their existing Hardee’s locations in Rice Lake and Stevens Point is convenient for their management. “It is a super easy location to be able to manage. I shouldn’t say super easy, but convenient,” he said.
Kevin explained that their employees are a mix of returning Hardee’s staff from the previous owners and new hires. He said the goal had been to have about 35 employees at opening and said they are now around 30 employees. About half of those came with previous experience at Medford Hardee’s.
“They are a really good group of people,” Hanusa said of the returning employees. All the employees were sent for training at their Stevens Point store. Hanusa said the assistant manager from the Stevens Point location, Samantha Barton, is taking on the job of general manager in the Medford location and will be relocating to the community. Ed Barnes, who was previously the general manager of the Rice Lake location will serve as the regional manager.
He said they are looking to hit the ground running and serve the customer better than had previously been done here both in terms of service and in the quality of the products being served.
They have worked to improve the exterior of the building, painting it and have plans to improve the landscaping around the building and the parking lot. “It is all a process,” Hanusa said.
Beyond the exterior, they have invested in equipment upgrades in the kitchen and serving areas with the goal of improving the quality of the food being served.
“The hand-breaded chicken is kind of Hardee’s little secret right now. It is absolutely amazing,” Hanusa said. “I strongly encourage everyone to try it,” he said, specifically calling out their chicken tender meal as being top-notch and noting that they have invested in equipment and training to improve that for customers as well as things that should make the already-good Hardee’s biscuits even better. “People will see better biscuits, better chicken, better French fries, curly fries and better burgers,” he said going through their lineup of food options. He said in addition to the good food, they want to have a friendly atmosphere.
Hanusa said that with the relatively few numbers of Hardee’s restaurants around in the region, that people will want to stop as they travel through to give them a try, while also attracting customers from nearby communities such as Colby and Abbotsford who have lost their Hardee’s.
“We are excited about bringing Hardee’s back to the area,” he said.
