Carrols was a chain of

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s in various cities in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

History

The company originally came to Finland as a franchise of an international chain named Carrols Corporation. However, it was eventually completely bought by the Finnish company Tuko (after the company gave up the use of its original restaurant brand and concept) which in turn was acquired by the Finnish chain Kesko becoming a completely Finnish-owned company. In the process it was renamed from Carrol's to Carrols, losing the

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. Thus, the original Carrols brand would survive exclusively in Finland. The most famous

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in Carrols was the Club Burger, which was similar to the

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. The chain also regularly served limited-time special hamburgers. The chain was eventually bought out by another Finnish fast-food chain, Hesburger, which integrated it to itself almost fully. Almost all Carrols restaurants were converted to Hesburgers. This event caused a minor upset among the residents of

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, since Hesburger is based in a rival city,

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

. Since the acquisition by Hesburger, only a few of the most famous Carrols restaurants remained under their original name, all of them located in the Greater Helsinki region (except one in

Janakkala Janakkala () is a municipality of Finland. Its administrative centre is in Turenki. Janakkala is located along Highway 3 ( E12) in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region. To the south, Janakkala shares a bo ...

and one in

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

). Although Hesburger serves the Club Burger in its menu, the limited-time special hamburgers have been discontinued. In August 2006, new life was breathed into the Carrols brand when a pilot scheme was launched with Pikoil, an operator of Neste branded service stations across Finland. The pilot programme saw new Carrols restaurants opening at Pikoil sites in Imatra and Vantaa. One reason for the Carrols brand being used instead of Hesburger was that Hesburger already operates fast food restaurants under its own name at service stations run by the rival S-Group. Along with the launch of new Carrols restaurants, the Carrols.fi domain no longer pointed to the Hesburger site but instead to a relaunched dedicated Carrols site. In 2012, Hesburger announced that the brand Carrols would be discontinued, and the last location in Oulunkylä was renamed Hesburger on May 29. Since then the only thing remaining of Carrols has been the Clubburger that periodically has been available in Hesburger for a limited period. Carrols also operated a chain of outlets in neighbouring

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

from 1993 to 2001 and in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

between 1974 and 1976.

History

See also