Smashburger, a fast-casual “better burger” concept recently launched and funded with $15 million by private equity and concept development firm Consumer Capital Partners (CCP), has secured its fourth franchisee and “Founders Club” member, SunWest Burgers LLC. This latest franchise agreement brings the total number of Smashburger franchise locations to 135, as well as a 10-store joint venture, announced October 2008. The “Founders Club” designation has been reserved for the first five large franchisees to join the Smashburger team.
A subsidiary of Phoenix-based SunWest Restaurant Concepts, SunWest Burgers LLC’s principals — David Doty, Chuck Riske and Robin Yoshimura — collectively bring over 40 years of restaurant industry experience to Smashburger. Doty, Riske and Yoshimura also own and operate six Jerry’s Restaurants and six Black Bear Diners in Arizona and are involved in over 30 other restaurants in six western states. As Smashburger’s fourth “Founders Club” member, SunWest will provide valuable field insight on Smashburger’s brand and menu development as well as operations and real estate.
“The response to Smashburger has been tremendous, which has allowed us to be very selective as we continue to seek only the best and brightest franchise partners around the country,” said David Prokupek, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Consumer Capital Partners. “We know that Smashburger has the potential to become the top ‘better burger’ concept nationally in a very short amount of time, and we are honored that David, Robin and Chuck not only share that vision but will also provide their guidance and input to help us achieve that goal in Phoenix and around the country.”
SunWest hopes to have its first Phoenix location in operation no later than April 2009 and all 30 of its stores in Maricopa County opened over the next six years. The new locations in Phoenix will complement Smashburger’s current corporate footprint of ten stores in Denver, Wichita and Houston, as well as 115 locations under development in Texas, Kansas, New Jersey, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado and South Dakota.
