CaliBurger, the rapidly-expanding international restaurant group, is planning to open up to eight company owned London restaurants before franchising the concept out, M&C Report has learnt.
It is planning to open two stores in central London next year followed by three a year in 2016 and 2017.
In China and the Middle East and other regions, the company has taken a franchise first approach but wanted to prove the concept in London before embarking on franchising.
Jessica McCauley, director of business development for Europe, told M&C Report: “We wanted to prove the concept first and have control of it to have great traction to begin with.”
The company has instructed agents to find central London sites but chief executive Silas Adler said the brand does not require “super premium” sites to succeed. “We do not need a space like Covent Garden for our flagship site; we are edgier than Shake Shack or Five Guys so would work anywhere.”
McCauley said this has been achieved in other territories, including China where it had its first store. McCauley said burgers have “really taken off” there and the group is implementing expansion plans across the country.
As part of the European expansion, CaliBurger has “deals on the table” for multiple franchisee agreements in Sweden and Germany.
The format has been trailed and can be adapted to suit shopping centres, retail parks and food courts to enable the roll-out at different locations and in different sized sites around the UK. Adler said the company is ideally looking for sites between 1,500 and 2,000sq ft.
The company is building a sample kitchen and restaurant in Acton, west London, to showcase the concept for potential franchisees to visit and sample.
The restaurant concept is based on In and Out burger, the California burger restaurant. CaliBurger has bought international rights for the concept to use outside of the US. McCauley said the simple burger menu is priced mid-range above restaurants such as McDonalds and Burger King but below Shake Shack and Five Guys. An average meal of burger, side and a drink is expected to cost £9.
“We would not consider McDonalds or Burger King as competitors. If we can get the same quality but lower prices than Five Guys or Shake Shack we will have a success,” McCauley said.
The restaurants are themed with Californian decor encapsulating the mountains and beaches of the state. CaliBurger has an agreement with multi-media company Premium Cali to provide music and lifestyle content onto screens in the restaurants which fits with the Californian theme while being tailored to the location. The “media walls” will also play sponsored content to add another income stream for franchisees.
