Tequesta Family Flips For Regional Five Guys Burgers And Fries Franchise

Four Palm Beach County guys are behind the Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurants now growing throughout the region.

It's a family venture led by Tom Tracy of Tequesta, a longtime business executive who co-founded PAYCHEX, the giant payroll and human resources company. (Tracy still serves on the board of Primepay, a privately held payroll and business services company in Virginia.) Tracy and sons Matthew, Patrick and Ryan are the Five Guys franchisees for Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties.

A few years ago, Tracy, who has a home in northern Virginia, was scouting for a way to involve his sons in a business.

He happened upon a new but growing venture in the Virginia area known as Five Guys Burgers.

"I felt very comfortable with the Five Guys concept and their operation," Tracy said.

Five Guys is a family business started in 1986 by Janie and Jerry Murrell, who have four sons.

The fast-food restaurant, popular in the mid-Altantic region, became instantly known when President Obama visited a D.C. store in February 2009, ordering burgers and fries for himself and staffers back at the White House. He also ordered a cheeseburger for NBC anchor Brian Williams, who was doing a segment on a day in the life of the new president.

Five Guys ranks as the fastest-growing American restaurant, according to Stores Magazine's annual Hot 100 rankings.

The company has more than 750 locations nationwide, and its U.S. franchise locations are sold out. Franchise qualifications are stiff, requiring the ability to purchase the rights to open five or more locations. Applicants must have a net worth of about $1.3 million and liquid assets of $500,000.

Each store costs $200,000 to $500,000 to build out.

Despite the company's popularity, Tracy's first Five Guys store in Palm Beach County did not go exactly as planned. The Village Boulevard store opened in 2007 and quickly closed. Tracy blamed the location.

He and his sons had better success with a second store, however. A Five Guys opened in 2007 at the new Legacy Place shopping center in Palm Beach Gardens, and sales took off.

Success begat success, and stores in Wellington, Boynton Beach, Boca Raton and Stuart all opened and did well.

"My kids are doing a great job running the businesses," Tracy said.

The Tracy family's success is good news for the local economy: Each store employs about 30 workers.

Tracy did not disclose financial details but said all stores are profitable. And more are planned.

In September, a Five Guys will open on Indiantown Road in Jupiter, just east of Interstate 95. A location at 330 Clematis St. in downtown West Palm Beach is in the works, and a restaurant at St. Lucie West also is slated to open in the next six months.

Tracy said he'd still like to open another store in West Palm Beach, perhaps near Military Trail. He credits the eatery's success to a couple of factors, including timing.

The burger joint expanded at a time in the economy when people were looking to eat good food at lower prices.

Five Guys also maintains stringent quality rules for all its stores, guaranteeing customers a good experience each time they visit, Tracy said.

In addition to internal checks, the company hires outside companies to do frequent spot checks, said Molly Catalano, a Five Guys spokeswoman at the company's headquarters in Lorton, Va.

For instance, one outside company sends secret shoppers to each store twice a week. Another company drops in for unannounced checks on cleanliness.

Because of a steady, consistent product and experience, Catalano said, the company's sales have grown through word of mouth. As a result, the company does not advertise.

The Five Guys name is hot now and customers are excited when they see a Five Guys restaurant in the works, Tracy said.

"Three months before we opened (the Stuart location), we had people knocking on the windows during construction.

"We figured we served 8,000 meals that first week. We even had traffic jams," Tracy marveled.

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