I’d never been to a Five Guys until I moved to the DC area two years ago. In fact, I’d never heard of it. Now it’s the only burger place my wife and I enjoy.
With only around 800 locations in the U.S., Five Guys Burgers may well be the best burger you’ve never eaten. Sales are estimated to have grown by 38% last year, to $625 million, as store count swelled 35%. So where can you scoop up shares of this fast-growing company? (Hint: You can’t, and it might be better that way.)
Five Guys is riding the wave of “better burger” establishments that have swept the U.S. over the last decade or so. The outfit began franchising in 2002, and while the company has some 800 locations now, more than 1500 are in development and all its U.S. franchising territories are sold out.