The Alpharetta location of baby burger restaurant BurgerIM has closed. The restaurant, located at 5530 Windward Parkway in the Plaza at Windward shopping center, opened early last year in place of fellow burger joint Smashburger, and closed within the past few days, according to local sources. The restaurant is still listed as open and operating on both the BurgerIM website and Google but the Alpharetta specific Facebook page for the burger eatery indicates the restaurant is "permanently closed."
Interestingly, the restaurant's Yelp.com page indicates that it is still open and also suggests that the restaurant was participating in unethical behavior whereby it offered rewards for reviews. The restaurant had an overall 3.5 star rating including three of their past five reviews being 5 stars.
As many as 100 BurgerIM restaurants have already closed nationwide according to published reports, and the closures continue to happen. In a January 17 report entitled "The Burgerim Disaster," Restaurant Business indicates that the company's founder Oren Loni has fled the country and that the company may have or be preparing to file for bankruptcy. The three part series is quite exhaustive and provides great insight into the House of Cards that was the BurgerIM franchising machine.
In 2019, two other BurgerIM franchises closed in Georgia - Athens and Midtown - both of which had been open less than a year.
Following the closure, BurgerIM has four remaining Georgia: Dunwoody, Peachtree Corners, Stockbridge and Bonaire, near Warner Robins. A fifth location ToNeTo Atlantafirst reported on last June is still listed as "coming soon" to Toco Hills shopping center where signage is still displayed indicating the restaurant is opening but zero visible work has been completed to build-out the space.
ToNeTo Atlanta never cheers failure but we have questioned the viability of the BurgerIM business since 2018. The franchise attracted inexperienced franchisees which in turn had led to poor-performing units and mass closures.
Have you eaten at a BurgerIM? Are you surprised that BurgerIM has closed so many locations? What would you like to see open in place of the former Alpharetta BurgerIM?
Please share your thoughts below