Gobble, gobble

"Fast-Food Chains Buck the Healthy Trend," says the headline on the BusinessWeek Online story. No, they're just giving people what they want and are willing to pay for:

Two years ago, just as all sorts of fast-food restaurants were adding salads and healthier items to their menus, Andrew F. Puzder went in the opposite direction. The chief executive of CKE Restaurants (CKR ), which owns the Hardee's and Carl's Jr. restaurant chains, bet that what his customers really wanted were even bigger, juicier, and better-tasting burgers. Super size? Try monster size. He introduced a 1,400-calorie burger called the 1-lb Double Six Dollar Burger for $5.49 and followed that up with a series of artery-clogging sandwiches.

Customers have been gobbling them up. On June 27, CKE announced that same-store sales for the Hardee's and Carl's Jr. chains were up an average of 4.7% for the four weeks that ended June 19.

The Thickburger remains the best chain hamburger out there right now. The smallest of the three sizes is a third of a pound. Awesome.