At a time when it seems Burger King has lost its way and the company announcing that hundreds of restaurants will close this year, one franchisee is doubling down and investing in the future of the brand. GPS Hospitality, an Atlanta-based operator of nearly 500 units, plans to scrape and rebuild their existing Dunwoody area Burger King at 4537 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, just off I-285 and close to Georgetown shopping center.
As noted, GPS operates nearly 500 restaurants - including Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Pizza Hut - but Burger King units represent the majority of their holdings. That said, the company has in recent years closed several Atlanta area Burger King restaurants including those in Chamblee, Dunwoody Village, Norcross and Kennesaw, among others. Other franchisees have closed restaurants in Roswell, Marietta, East Cobb and Cumming, among other locations.
The rebuilding of the Dunwoody restaurant is a testament not only to GPS's faith in the Burger King brand, but also their confidence in the local market. In recent years, rivals McDonald's and Wendy's, in partnership with their franchisees, have both executed significant renovations and updates.
To be sure, the renovations of both burger rivals have yielded mixed results. McDonald's has largely been mocked for their "plainification" of their restaurants resulting in numerous memes poking fun at the changes.
Wendy's, on the other hand, has been largely praised for their "image activation" renovations of their restaurants, which modernized the restaurants while still allowing them to have character.
Leading the "Reclaim the Flame" effort at Burger King is Patrick Doyle. Lured out of retirement in 2022, Doyle previously spent eight years in the top spot at Domino's and is credited with reinvigorating the brand and the sales of its franchise partners. During his time at the helm of Domino's (2010 to 2018), Doyle delivered 29 consecutive quarters of same-store sale increases, and system-wide sales growth of $5.6 billion to $13 billion.
Restaurant Brands International (RBI), parent company of not only Burger King but also Tim Hortons, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Firehouse Subs, paid Doyle $117 million in stock and option awards in 2022 as an incentive to become the company’s executive chairman. The Toronto-based company indicated that Doyle is not taking a salary and that he is not eligible for bonuses. Instead, Doyle invested $30 million into RBI stock as part of the deal and agreed to hold his investment in the company for five years, whereby he has skin in the game and will benefit from the improvements he plans to execute across all RBI owned brands.
For its part, Burger King plans to lean further into its roots - it introduced a "retro-inspired" logo in early 2021 - with a marketing campaign that largely focuses on the chain's flame-grilled flagship burger, the Whopper. The chain will reportedly rely less on "The King," the hokey spokesperson that was frequently used in ads in recent years.
The company in 2020 released renderings of what was described as the "drive-thru of the future," with three drive-thru lanes, one designated specifically for delivery partners, and "burger lockers," where customers could easily pick up their ordered food. The new prototype was also described as "pandemic-proof," as it relied heavily on automation with less employee/customer interaction. The first modern units were to have opened in Miami, Latin America and the Caribbean in 2021, but based on our research, none have opened.
The planned Dunwoody restaurant will certainly be an update over the current restaurant but planning documents don't indicate it will be anywhere near as modern as the 2020 renderings.
Overall, Burger King is the third largest fast food burger operator in America when ranked by sales. McDonald's maintains its industry leading top position followed by Wendy's in second. Although not presently a formidable challenger on a national level, San Antonio-based Whataburger has already opened several Atlanta area locations with dozens more planned, as it continues to jockey for market share.
Based on a recently approved variance, Burger King is slated to receive final approval to start construction later this month and has six months from that time to commence work.
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