--- title: "⛫ The Interesting Case of KFC in Utah" url: https://burnaze.com/article/323d2213-19c1-4e0f-a678-31eac4b7b9cb source: "Empires Weekly" original_url: https://empirespod.substack.com/p/the-interesting-case-of-kfc-in-utah author: "Patrick Buckley" category: "Chicken" industry: "Restaurants" segment: "Chicken" published: 2026-08-25T00:06:49.000Z modified: 2026-10-31T13:15:36.474Z image: https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!e8M8!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc0077d4e-f315-4b2d-bfc4-d600f3c49c86_800x584.png --- # ⛫ The Interesting Case of KFC in Utah **TL;DR:** KFC has roughly 3,500 franchise locations in the U.S., but in Utah, the franchisees pay royalties to Harman Management Corp. instead of Yum! Brands due to a deal dating back to 1964. Harman Management Corp. is the franchisor of KFC in Utah, with around 40 locations in the state. *By Patrick Buckley, originally published in Empires Weekly on 2026-08-25. [Read the original](https://empirespod.substack.com/p/the-interesting-case-of-kfc-in-utah).* ## Story **Restaurant Logistics** partners with QSRs to handle all of their disputes and refunds across 3rd party delivery apps, and does so completely on performance (no set up fees, long-term contracts, or minimums). Over 400+ QSR locations - including franchisees of Burger King, Popeyes, Church’s Chicken, and more - trust them to recover revenue for them, ensuring 99% uptimes across 3rd party delivery apps. If you’re a restaurant operator and want to recover thousands of dollars in fees, **AT NO COST,** **get in touch** via the button below. KFC has roughly 3,500 franchise locations in the U.S., but in Utah, it’s not quite the same. Like any franchise, each location has to pay royalties to the franchisor. So in the case of KFC franchise owners, their royalties are paid to Yum! Brands, the ~$40 billion parent company of KFC. Except…for the franchisees in Utah. The state is home to about 40 or so locations. They look like any other KFC, and their menu (from what I can tell) is largely the same. But those locations don't answer to Yum! Brands. Thanks to a deal dating back to 1964, they pay royalties to a company called Harman Management Corp. Turns out, the first Kentucky Fried Chicken didn’t open in Kentucky. It actually opened in Utah in the 1950's. Side note: *Utah Fried Chicken* doesn’t really have the same ring to it. The franchisee of location #1 was a gentleman named Pete Harman - a good friend of Colonel Sanders (the statue in the picture above is Pete Harman and Colonel Sanders at KFC #1). Thanks to the success Pete had with his initial location, Colonel Sanders gained the confidence to franchise KFC nationally. Fast forward to 1964 when the Colonel is getting acquired - As a way of saying thank you for Pete’s important early contributions, the Colonel carved out the state of Utah in the sale of KFC. So to this day, Harman Management Corp is not only a franchisee of KFC, with ~260 locations across 8 states, but they’re also exclusively -in the state of Utah - the ***franchisor*** of the brand. It’s the only concept I know at international scale with a nuance like this. If anyone out there knows anyone at Harman Mgmt, I’d appreciate an intro as I’d love to chat with them and learn more about their history! Along with the **Venture Kitchen team,** he’s a co-founder of **Minnie Bird**, which recently began franchising. In our conversation, Sean shares what it was like growing up with Dave, and gives some inside baseball on Wendy’s origins. We also discuss the journey building Minnie Bird, their early franchising success (3+ franchisees already), and their 3 core product pillars: - Fried chicken - Dirty soda - Free ice cream! **Whataburger Adds $4 Value Menu** Low-priced options could attract diners in new markets and sustain sales in core trade areas. **California Pizza Kitchen is Deploying 1k Kiosks** A partnership with retail tech company T-ROC Global could help CPK reverse the steady erosion of its store base by reintroducing the brand to more consumers. **A&W is Betting on Bigger** The larger prototype format is designed to foster meaningful guest connections through hospitality and differentiate the brand from transactional QSR dining rooms. **Inside Dutch Bros’ Growth Strategy** From a strong leadership pipeline to healthy quarterly openings, the drive-thru coffee chain is seeing positive momentum across several parts of its business. **Buc-ee’s Debuts in Arkansas** The Texas retailer has reached its 14th state, with plans for opening in more than half a dozen others still underway. **Target’s Turnaround is Gaining Steam** The retailer saw a 7.2% year-over-year increase in food and beverage sales during the second quarter, helping to fuel single-digit advances in net and identical-store sales. ## Entities - QSR (sector) - franchise model (topic) - KFC (company) - Yum Brands (company) - Utah (location) - Empires Weekly (publication) - Patrick Buckley (person) - company history (topic) - Colonel Sanders (person) - royalty payments (topic) - Pete Harman (person) - Harman Management Corp. (company) --- Originally reported by Patrick Buckley, Empires Weekly (https://empirespod.substack.com/p/the-interesting-case-of-kfc-in-utah). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/323d2213-19c1-4e0f-a678-31eac4b7b9cb).