QSR Interview | By Sherri Daye Scott
This
is a shortened version of an interview that appears
in the July 2007 issue of QSR. To
get the full QSR interview
delivered to your door twelve times per year, subscribe to QSR. There really are five guys: Jim, Matt, Chad, Ben, and Tyler. And they are the sons of Jerry Murrell, CEO of Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries, and his wife Janie. The “guys” were each given the choice to go to college or buy into the family business which, from its birth in 1986 in Alexandria, Virginia, is today on the fast track for growth with more than 100 stores and $100 million in revenue.
The Five Guys winning formula has always been to keep things simple and go on gut feel. Its mission fully supports this ideology: “We are in the business of selling burgers.” QSR editor Sherri Daye Scott caught up with Murrell to learn more about Five Guys’ rapid success.
And how did you decide which toppings to offer? All my kids like fried onions. The mushrooms were my wife’s contribution. I like raw onions. We just kind of put what we liked.
Did you come from a restaurant background before opening Five Guys? I’ve always liked the restaurant business, but the only experience I had in it was when I went to the University of Michigan and ran a kitchen. I was able to turn that kitchen around so that it started making money. It kind of got in my blood a little bit, I guess.
What was going on in 1986 that made you decide to get into the business? I had a little money saved up for the kids to go to college, but they didn’t seem like they were going to be scholars, you know? So I gave them the option: going to college or opening up a small hamburger and fries place.
Why hamburgers and fries? Because we like hamburgers and fries. We enjoy eating them.
I can remember when I was at the University of Michigan. That was the first McDonald’s I ever saw. That was the nicest thing that ever happened to me. I could ride my motorcycle over there and get a hamburger for 17 cents or something. I can’t remember exactly what the price was.
So the Five Guys concept is based on your family’s preferences, their guts, if you will, rather than any market research? Absolutely. People say, “Jeepers, you guys don’t know much about the food business.” Well, that might be the best thing that ever happened to us … that we did it our way.