Omaha Exploration

The son of German immigrants, Walter Harkert, first worked in the shoe business before opening a chain of restaurants that started in Omaha and stretched from Denver to Des Moines. Walter remained in his hometown of Davenport, IA where he worked at a clothing store and managed a dance hall until he was 27 years old. He moved to Council Bluffs in 1916 where he became part owner of the Babbe-Harkert Shoe company. 

Walter enlisted in the Navy during World War I but returned home one year later. At that point he returned to the shoe business briefly before selling it in 1920. With a desire to go out on his own, he opened Harkert’s Store for Men. This proved to be a difficult time for Walter and many others due to the economic downturn of the early 1920s that preceded the Great Depression that started in 1929. As a result, he went broke and closed the store in 1923.

Walter rebounded and married Mercedes Carey one year later in 1924 at which point the young couple moved to Omaha where he found work at Floresheim’s shoe store. He followed that up with a stint as a manager of a clothing store chain called Browning King. By this time the Harkert’s experienced more financial instability brought about by unexpected medical expenses. That led to the idea of opening a sandwich stand in order to supplement his income. 

He did just that when he opened a small diner called U Eat a Hamburger at 4633 S 24th Street. The small lunchroom had just five stools and a simple menu consisting of a one ounce hamburger for a nickel as well as coffee or soda. He was able to offer such low prices as a pound of beef cost just sixteen cents. With that he was able to make 16 one ounce burgers at just over two-and-half cents each once you factored in the bun and other ingredients. The restaurant became known for its motto, “dine for a dime” which included the burger and a cup of coffee.

Following the success of his first hamburger stand at 24th and L Streets, he opened three more across the river in Council Bluffs under the name Harkert Hamburger Hut. During this time he continued to work at his day job in the retail business. By 1928, however, he fully dedicated himself to the restaurant business and even began to expand the menu with his wife making chili and his mother baking pies and making noodles for its chicken noodle soup.

By 1932 he was operating his chain of three Omaha restaurants under the name Harkert’s Holsum Hamburgers. After a successful opening of his new location at the exclusive Omaha Athletic Club at 1714 Douglas Street, he set his sights on Dundee. His next location was located at 4924 Dodge Street next to the Dundee Theater. From here on out he said his previous locations no longer counted and that from that point forward he would open what he called “nice places.”

His mission was to serve quality food at low prices while offering prompt personal service. To do so and to set his restaurants apart from the competition, he hired a laboratory to test and certify that his meat was 100% ground beef. This was at a time that a lot of restaurants included additives in its beef.

He clearly knew what he was doing as he formed the parent company, Harkert Houses, with ambitions of launching a national restaurant chain. By 1935 his largest location at 1415 Farnam Street also served as its general headquarters. Despite its growth, it remained a family run business with Walter serving as the President and Treasurer, Mercedes serving as Vice President and sister Clara as Secretary.

He also offered top notch training in what employees referred to as “Harkert University” where they learned the ins-and-outs of the industry. Walter often claimed that the secret to his success were the good managers that he hired, which he not only paid a salary but also commission. He admitted that while they worked long hours, they were well compensated. The hours were long indeed, as the locations originally operated from 6 AM to 1 AM.

The demands of the job resulted in a strike in 1942 when most non-management employees were putting in ten hour days, seven days per week for $100 per month. They were successful in getting the hours reduced to 60 hours per week at the same salary. Some of the stores closed afterwards while prices increased at the others.

Walter demonstrated the appreciation for his customers with a sign that read “Through our doorways pass the nicest people in the world, my customers.” His vision of a national chain never came to fruition as he opened a total of 21 locations. While most were in Omaha he opened others in Council Bluffs, Lincoln, Sioux City, Des Moines and Denver. He visited each location once a month where he would cook, wait, clean windows and mop floors and sample the food. 

With his age catching up to him, he gradually began to retire in 1954. At that point he sold his locations one-by-one to its managers with no down payment and the cost coming from profits. He didn’t fully retire until he sold his last store in 1967. Located at 15th and Harney Street inside the Orpheum Theater. It was also the last location to close for good in 1974. By that point, the theater wanted to reclaim the space for its restoration and expansion. Its owner, Ernest Payne, said he preferred to continue operating the restaurant but the terms of the sale stipulated that it remain at the same location. 

There are still traces of Harkert’s around town. They include 1415 Farnam Street which is now the home to Kitchen Table; Harold’s Koffee House whose founder, Harold Halstead, got his start at Harkert’s as well as former locations whose buildings still stand at 1916 Farnam Street and 4819 S 24th Street.

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