Encore Restaurants Strategy

Encore Restaurants plans to grow its Five Guys restaurant portfolio to 200 units through strategic acquisitions and development:

  • Acquire additional Five Guys territories that allow Encore Restaurants to leverage its existing operations, cost controls and capitalize on the well-established brand recognition.
  • Purchase existing franchisees that are either under-performing or under-capitalized and cannot develop their remaining MDA rights, which allows Encore to be both opportunistic in its purchase costs and add value through improved operations.
  • Leverage Encore Enterprises’ vast recourses and real estate experience to pick top quality sites and negotiate much better lease deals for all future development.
  • Utilize Encore Construction to oversee construction management in order provide the best quality units at the best possible cost.
  • Continue to develop Regional Management talent to ensure that Operations has the resources to open stores and manage their growth without needing to add unnecessary layers of management.
  • Utilize the current Encore accounting, underwriting, legal, development, marketing, administration, finance, and HR teams and add additional support services as growth demands.
  • Ensure that the Five Guys policies, procedures, staff training, and brand standards are top priority to allow for successful and sustained growth.

The Five Guys Story

Five Guys Burgers and Fries has been a Washington, DC area favorite since 1986 when Jerry and Janie Murrell offered sage advice to the four young Murrell brothers: “Start a business or go to college.” The business route won and the Murrell family opened a carry-out burger joint in Alexandria, Virginia.

Under the guidance of Jerry and Janie, the Murrell family served only hand-formed burgers cooked to perfection on a seasoned grill along with fresh-cut fries cooked in pure peanut oil. The little burger joint quickly developed a cult-like following. The press paid attention. Customers voted the burger “#1” in the metro area. During the 1980s and 1990s the Murrell family perfected their simple system. Five Guys was the place to get a fresh, juicy burger with all the toppings you could stuff between fresh-baked buns. A fifth brother was born and, as the family grew, so did their business. Four more restaurants with sit-down seating were added to accommodate the growing clientele.

Early in 2003 Jerry and Janie, together with the five “guys” began offering franchise opportunities. In just under 18 months, Five Guys Enterprises sold options for over 300 units. The overwhelming success of franchising a local restaurant made national news with articles in trade publications such as Nation’s Restaurant News, Restaurant Business Magazine, and the Franchise Times.

Now, more than 30 years after Five Guys first opened, there are over 1,550 locations worldwide, with over 2,200 locations projected to be open across 28 countries by 2021. The family attributes their growth to their passionate, uncompromising focus on quality service, cleanliness, and their continual effort to keep things simple.

The Five Guys Difference

The Five Guys Operations

Encore upholds the highest standard of restaurant cleanliness and food quality. Five Guys conducts a secret shopper program where every restaurant is anonymously evaluated by a third-party reviewer twice each week. Team members are incentivized to achieve a score of 100%, as cash prizes are awarded to all staff if achieved. Encore finished 2018 with secret shopper scores at 83.42%, higher than FGO and FGE at 82.49%

The management team maintains a diligent approach to controlling operating expenses, labor costs, and cost of goods sold. The operations team utilizes programs such as:

  • CrunchTime: builds and monitors its weekly labor schedules based on project sales volume.
  • ParTech: provides inventory management as well as weekly theoretical food and beverage cost controls.
  • Compliance Mate: program used every two hours during operating hours to ensure staff maintains food safety, quality, and brand standards.

Area managers perform weekly site evaluations in order to track restaurant progress. To ensure financial discipline, management creates a “Dashboard Report” that includes weekly, monthly, and YTD revenue to budget, weekly labor cost, F&B COGS, secret shopper scores, and Steritech audit scores that is reviewed by senior management. Managers are also responsible for preparing monthly financial reports and presenting their results at the quarterly GM conference.

Our Stores

Meet the Team

Dale Doerhoff
President

Matt Reid
Division Vice President of Operations