Hardee's Restaurant #11, 901 Harden Street: 3 May 2010 8 comments
This closing has been talked about long enough that I actually got these photos last year, knowing I would have to deploy them eventually. This Hardee's has been a fixture in the old Five Point's Sears parking lot for years. I think it may even date back to when Gene's Pig & Chick across College Street would have been its competition. (It certainly does not date back to Hardee's original space-age designs such as at Silver City or The Eggroll Station though).
This story from The State last year tells how the Hardee's is going to be replaced with a Chick-Fil-A, and how it will all be carefully landscaped in accordance to the new Five Points streetscaping guidelines. Color me unimpressed. You have only to compare US-17 as it passes through Mount Pleasant where everything is set-back so far and blends in so blandly that you can't even tell you are passing stores that want to sell you something with US-17 in the Myrtle Beach area where even failed and vacant storefronts are exuberant to see how guidelines can suck the life out of a road. Not to mention this quote:
"Chick-fil-A is a business of high quality and we anticipate this development will add great character to the already diverse and eclectic makeup of Five Points," she said.
Of really? Replacing one national fast-food chain (which is actually currently on the rebound) with another national fast-food chain will add character and diversity to Five Points? I guess character and diversity aren't what they once were..
(Hat tips to commenters Tom, Mike D, Larry & Jim)
UPDATE 21 May 2010 -- here are some pictures taken after the closing:
UPDATE 8 June 2010 -- Well, it's gone:
UPDATE 24 July 2010 -- The new sign is going up on 9 July 2010:
The new sign on 23 July 2010:
I have no idea how (or why) Office Depot got themselves on the Chick-Fil-A sign. Yes, office Depot is in the same plaza, but it has its own sign on its own building..
UPDATE 6 November 2010 -- The Chick-Fil-A is open:
UPDATE 3 Dec 2010 -- A somewhat better view from across Harden Street:
UPDATE 19 July 2021: Updating tags and adding map icon.
8 Responses to 'Hardee's Restaurant #11, 901 Harden Street: 3 May 2010'
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Dennis
5 May 10 at 6:05 am
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Well, the Hardee's wasn't there when it was Sears, and I really don't remember it until sometime in the 80s.
jamie
5 May 10 at 7:09 am
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The Hardee's location was the site of the Sears auto center, which also sold gasoline. Gene's was on the opposite side of College Street, where the gas station is now. Sears moved out of Five Points in the 1970s when they opened the Columbia Mall store. I don't remeber when Gene's closed but it was gone when Sears left.
BTW, does anyone else remeber the old Stanley the Clown show on WLTX? Gene's was a big sponsor of that show.
Tom
5 May 10 at 9:03 am
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Dennis, you are right. Every time I went there it was like they had a neon sign that read "Vagrants Welcome".
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I agree..this is no loss to the 5 points area. It was a place where the homeless and other trouble makers hung out. It wont be missed, but it'll be interesting to see what happens to the spot this next go-around.
Del
5 May 10 at 8:33 pm
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Well unlike the others who responded about how they got an unwelcoming feeling when they went there, I hardly saw it as such. Fifty percent of the time I either used the drive-thru or walked in but their food was pretty damn good for the money & I for one didn't want to spend $8 to $20 for something quick to eat in the Five Points area. Yeah it had bums who hung around in the morning but only cause they went there to buy themselves some coffee & maybe a biscuit (where else are you going to get that in Five Points 6 to 10 am, no where). I've enjoyed their menu before & after Hardees changed it, they still make a better chicken sandwich than Chick-fil-A. Anyway, 5Points already has a ton of upper-scale (overpriced) resturants to eat at and to me they should've left Hardees there or replaced it with maybe a Rushes, Arby's, or even a Popeyes; but if you commenters think this will stop bums from going to this place, it wont. Now I have to go to the Hardees all the way on Rosewood when I lived less than a block away from the one in Five Points.
Joey
23 Jul 10 at 4:14 am
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Jack Kuenzie has this report talking about the proposed Waffle House and the city are working on zoning issues and now 5 Points Merchants are trying to get the Norcross, GA based restaurant chain to tweak their design to fit the character of 5 Points (don't expect me to be lining up in that restaurant when they open up though)
Andrew
1 Feb 12 at 12:21 am
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How long before the first shooting at the new Waffle House?
tonkatoy
1 Feb 12 at 8:08 am
ted - I'm sure Gene's was gone before this Hardee's was built.
This store deserved to go out of business. I have never had a stronger feeling of "we wish you would go away" from a fast food place. It was also an unofficial day room for the local unemployed who acted like they owned it and you were trespassing.