RETAIL/ADVERTISING : Regional Advertising, Marketing Work Shifted to In-House by Carl Karcher

Carl Karcher Enterprises has moved its regional advertising and marketing business in-house, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Patricia Parks, a spokeswoman for the Anaheim-based burger chain, said the decision resulted from an expansion of Karcher Enterprises that included a marketing department. Those marketing managers found themselves duplicating the efforts of the outside advertising agency, she said.

The ad firm that has handled the Carl’s account for 4 1/2 years--New York-based Della Femina, McNamee WCRS--will continue do the company’s strategic planning, its marketing research and develop all of its TV and radio advertising and in-store materials, said Joseph Olin, a vice president with Della Femina in Los Angeles.

As a result of Carl’s decision to handle regional marketing, Della Femina has laid off half of its 14 employees who worked on the $20-million account. “But we’re still handling the company’s business on a systemwide, brand and regional basis,” Olin said.

For the first three quarters of fiscal 1990, ended Nov. 6, Karcher Enterprises’ net income has declined 13% to $14.5 million from $16.6 million for the comparable period last year. The company has blamed the lower net income on a decline in investment income and an increase in interest expense.

Bringing the regional advertising business in-house, Parks said, “was a management decision to manage the costs of the agency more effectively.”

Neither Karcher Enterprises nor Della Femina would comment on how much the hamburger chain will save by taking over the regional advertising and marketing work.