It was a tough summer for Cheeburger Cheeburger. The fast-casual hamburger chain recently closed its last location
in Naples after the perception of oil from the Gulf spill kept visitors away, the local franchisee said.
“We’ve seen a lot of places come and go. It just makes me sick that we can’t make it on Fifth Avenue anymore,” said franchisee Kurt Lengemann, referring to himself as manager/owner/cook of Cheeburger Cheeburger’s final Collier County location, which operated at 505 Fifth Ave. S. for 15 years.
The local franchise’s business just nosedived in June, Lengemann said, after the widespread misconception that oil stained all Gulf beaches after a well ruptured in late April. Beaches in Southwest Florida, and most of the state, are not threatened by oil, but were affected by the perception that they were polluted. Read more.
Photo: Lisa Krantz.