Five Guys Burgers and Fries: A Simple Recipe for Success
Five Guys Burger and Fries is a family business that sell a really good, juicy burger on a fresh bun. Make perfect French fries. Don't cut corners. That's been the business plan since Jerry Murrell and his sons opened their first burger joint in 1986. When they began selling franchises in 2002, the family had just five stores in northern Virginia. Today, there are 570 stores across the U.S. and Canada, with 2009 sales of $483 million. Overseeing the opening of about four new restaurants a week, the Murrells are proof that flipping burgers doesn't have to be a dead-end job.
The regular burger consists of a bun with two slices of roasted beef, choice of cheese, bacon or both. Only a slice is available in the little version. They also provide several ingredients in the burger as free of charge, such as lettuce, tomato slices, ketchup, mayonnaise, onions, pepperoni slices, mustard, barbecue sauce and opted mushrooms, guests can eat free peanuts, which are offered in large cartons. These are the strategies that the Five Guys burger has adopted in order to keep their customers busy with something, while they are preparing their burgers. Moreover, as Five Guys Burger started as a small fast food chain, they only focused on hamburgers and fries, rather than focusing on a larger variety of fast food items. This was done by the Five Guys Burger, in order to make sure they can put their entire focus on this single product, which will in turn help them in maximizing the quality of their product. While the chain also serves hotdogs, it has ignored steady customer demand for milkshakes, the historic Ying to the hamburger’s Yang. The reason, Murrell says, is that Five Guys would have to make its own ice cream. “Nothing Frozen” accompanies “No Delivery” on the chain’s list of incontrovertible policies. The description above is Five Guy’s philosophy and that is the difference with the others chains for example McDonalds’ philosophy is based on value and price more then on quality, they are providing fast service and affordable prices. However, McDonalds state their goal is quality, service, cleanliness and price value. Everybody knows that McDonalds’ food is frozen and not daily fresh. Their best advantage is a price and fast service. According to Wendy’s philosophy, it is oriented on quality of the food as well, their competitive advantage is fresh non-frozen meat, made to order hamburgers. Factors that contributed to Five Guys’ success in such a short time: loyalty extends to its identity as a burger joint as much as to its suppliers. In an age of expanding menus, when even so iconic a brand as McDonald’s is as well known for its salads, coffee, and wraps as for its Quarter Pounder, Five Guys’ menu reads like one of Gertrude Stein’s minimalistic poems: Hamburger/ Cheeseburger/ Bacon Burger/ Bacon Cheeseburger. The culture of Five Guys comes down to meat and