Taco Bell to Sell Most of Its Hot ‘n Now Units

Hot ‘n Now, the value-oriented hamburger chain that found a niche with 39-cent burgers, fries and soft drinks, evidently isn’t as hot as Taco Bell Corp. once thought.

The Irvine-based fast-food giant plans to sell most of its remaining Hot ‘n Now locations to franchisees and licensees during the coming year as it moves to cut operating losses at the chain.

Taco Bell has said relatively little about the chain since buying it in 1990 from a Kalamazoo, Mich.-based restaurateur. The chain has only one Southern California restaurant, in Santa Ana, with most of its more than 100 locations clustered in the Midwest and East.

Executives at Taco Bell have treated Hot ‘n Now as a “test brand,” tinkering with the menu.

Taco Bell executives refuse to discuss the chain’s revenue or profitability--or even confirm how many Hot ‘n Now locations remain open. But earlier this month, PepsiCo, Taco Bell’s parent, said most of Taco Bell’s company-owned burger restaurants will be sold. PepsiCo’s annual report says the sale is part of a drive to cut operating losses and that it will “significantly reduce Hot ‘n Now’s operating losses in 1995.”