Skats: The chain is gone, but there’s still a link

“There is a chain of burger restaurants in North Carolina (and maybe elsewhere) called Skats. I once asked a friend where she was going to have lunch and she replied, ‘I’m going to have a Skatburger.’ I knew she was a nature lover and asked her if she knew what ‘scat’ meant. She said she did but had never put the two together.”

— From Steve Harper’s post on “scatology” in the A Word A Day newsletter (July 4)

Skats was started in Rocky Mount in 1985 to serve towns too small to interest the fast-food giants. In the early ’90s, it was gobbled up by Hardee’s, which converted most stores into Hardee’s Skat-Thrus.

3 thoughts on “Skats: The chain is gone, but there’s still a link”

  1. I may be misremembering this, but Skats was started by former Hardee’s execs. Hardee’s sued them for patent or trademark issues and eventually just bought the chain. (My Mom was from Rocky Mount and went to school with Leonard Rawls.)

    1. Skats began when Boddie Noel applied for numerous Hardee new locations that were denied by Imasco, Hardee’s Franchisor. It was a delicate dance because BN was the largest Hardee’s franchisee. They sold the chain to Imasco, but could’ve easily converted all their Hardee’s stores to Skats and seriously damaged the Hardee’s brand. Eventuality Imasco gave BN new franchises and in a settlement they became BN owned & operated Hardee’s locations.

  2. I was a kid in the 90’s. I lived in Currie, NC up until about 6-7 years ago when my family + I moved to Maple Hill, NC. Which is directly in between Burgaw, + Jacksonville,NC. Skatz was a Family Favorite in our household. Y’all think elderly folk love Hardee’s now? Shooot, these folks would make heads spin. They’re chicken was spicy. Not Bojangles spicy. Good spicy! They’re mashed potatoes + milkshakes! Honey hush! I’m sorry, I just remember this place so much, it was a huge part of my childhood. Where is go after church with my Grama + Papa, where my big sister would take me to eat when she came home from college + again from the military. The only sad issue with it is my kids won’t experience anything close to that kinda memory with any fast food chain/restaurant in these day + times! Sorry again for rambling!

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