Five GuysThe roast chain promoted by Barack Obama is strengthening its commitment to the Spanish market, where it will open restaurants and continue to new territories. That same Monday, a company founded in the US by the marriage between Janie and Jerry Murrell, opens its own 28th restaurant in the villageon Avenida de Felipe II, in the Goya neighborhood of Madrid and a few meters from Wizink Centernerve center for gaming, music events and business in the city. 60 employees will work there.
13 will be in the Madrid region where Five Guys has the largest presence. “It is one of the European areas where we have greater precision,” explains Daniel Agromayor, general director of the Spanish subsidiary. This points to factors such as high traffic, wide visibility and iconic areas as elements for the location of its restaurants, which often entail. 1.5 million investment. Agromayor acknowledges the difference between Madrid and Barcelona, where he has seven stores. “We started there a year and a half later than in Madrid, then the pandemic came. Barcelona has the same potential and we still have places to conquer”, explains the executive, who oversaw the Five Guys business when the brand was launched.
Six and a half years have passed since the inauguration of the first premises, in Madrid’s Gran Vía. At that time he also came Spain, Granada, Malacca, Murcia, Bilbao, Alicante and Valencia. Even so, says Agromayor, there is a great opportunity in Spain. We see that the Acuity brand still has a lot of potential.
He admits that 13 restaurants in Madrid are already “a good number”, so Five Guys will offer his advice on consolidating in other areas. “We work according to trial and error. After Madrid and Barcelona only Spain has more than one venue. We can have a third one there. Openings in Granada, Alicante, Murcia or Valencia have shown that they work, and we can open another one. The logical thing is where the brand works “.
As for the new regions, the person in charge of the Five Guys in Spain acknowledges their intention to reach the Balearic Islands. “I would like to this year, but we are working with logistics,” he explains. Insularity poses challenges in the delivery of raw materials. “Everything is fresh, we don’t have freezers, and we have to see how we do it. It sounds easy, but it is. And much more in the Canary Islands”.
This year’s goal is to repeat at least six holes from last year and invest some 10 million between holes and improvements in the rest of the network.
This growth is now being translated into sales. In 2022, Five Guys surpassed pre-Covid figures, which it could not do in 2021, when it had thirty million. “I wouldn’t say we doubled, but we didn’t lose much.”, says Agromayor, who does not explain the exact figure as the reasons for the subsidy during the preparation period. This will be about 60 million. Its previous ceiling, set in 2019, was 39 million. “It’s an extraordinary, record-breaking year.
10 The openings of the last two years, as well as the birth canal, play a key role in this bissextu. Five Guys left the present one aggregator, first Deliveroo and then Glovo, to join Just Eat and Uber Eats in 2022. This journey already means a double-digit sales “significant”, although Agromayor does not prefer to express. “But the priority is to visit the restaurant and for the customer to see where we make a difference.”
The Spanish market was, in 2019, the first European market where Five Guys operates (United Kingdom, Germany and France) to positive ebitda. It was repeated in 2021, with 1.9 million. Agromayor does not hide the good progress of the subsidiary, even in its profit, without excluding the first net profit. “I am surprised by the results. We are the smallest of the four regions. But we have shown that we are not the tail of the mouse.”
Prices by 5% on average
Inflation. Five Guys has applied a 5% price increase in recent days, in addition to a 4% increase made in November last year. “We were the first one in three and a half years. In 2022 the longest we have”, says Daniel Agromayor. This figure was lost by almost one point and a half margin last year due to the growth not being taken before, which was “inflation as well as national below inflation and restaurant” . At the price given at the beginning of the year, Five Guys repeats its rise. “If it is not, it is unsustainable. The income of the constitution would be too much and we would not be able to invest in the openings or in the prizes of the team.” The executive gives an example of the meat they use for roasting: “Its price has doubled.” so he did not change the recipe or the quantities. “Between the two grows 9% in almost four years. It’s less than other twists.”
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