October 7, 2020 3:40 a.m.
In the KQEN Business Spotlight:
Five Guys Burgers and Fries hopes to open its Roseburg location around the start of November.
The 2,500 square foot store is on Northwest Mulholland in the Hanna Heritage Place development, between Elmer’s and the Hampton Inn. Mel Garges and Kristy Zakour are the owners of Southern Oregon Burgers and Fries, LLC. The company has Five Guy’s outlets in Springfield, Eugene, Bend and south Medford. A store in north Medford will open soon after the Roseburg location.
Garges told News Radio 1240 KQEN he has had Five Guys franchises for ten years, with Zakour partnering with him seven years ago.
Garges is enthusiastic about the Five Guys menu emphasizing that that everything is fresh, with no freezers in the building. He said the food is prepped daily including burger buns that contain no preservatives. Garges called their hot dogs, “amazing” and said they are fried and not boiled. He said their fries come from potatoes grown in Idaho or Washington. Garges said the starch is taken out of them and they are cooked twice. Burgers, hot dogs and four types of sandwiches come with the condiments the customer desires. No additional charge is added for the toppings. Coca Cola products are served along with a variety of milkshakes. Flavors of those include the usual popular ones, but coffee, banana and even bacon shakes are available as well.
Garges expects to hire around 40 employees, with some members of the management team already in training. Dan Zakour, husband to partner Kristy, said open interviews for potential staff will take place October 14th. Interviews will happen between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and again from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Garges said sales for their group of stores has increased a bit this year. He said they work with delivery services like Grubhub and DoorDash for those who want food delivered. Food can be ordered on-line and brought out to customers cars as well. With COVID-19 restrictions, Zakour said less tables will be available in the store and customers waiting in line to order will be spaced out.
The national Five Guys chain opened in Virginia in 1986 and now has over 1,000 stores around the U.S. They also operate in 6 Canadian provinces, and over 15 other nations.