Burger King will return to Brainerd after a two-decade absence next week when the local franchise owners open their newest fast-food restaurant across the street from a McDonald’s restaurant along the strip of Brainerd Road where national fast-food chains first came to Chattanooga more than a half century ago.
“Brainerd Road is where McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Burger King first started in Chattanooga so we’re kind of coming full circle,” said Gordon Davenport, co-founder of Hometown Folks LLC, the local franchisee for Burger King. “We see so much retail going farther out in the suburbs – and we’ve done the same. But now we think there is this great opportunity to fill back in some of the core city historic retail areas.”
McDonald’s returned to Brainerd in 1994 by opening a restaurant also at Moore and Brainerd Roads.
The new Brainerd store, located at the corner of Brainerd and Moore roads, will be the 19th unit operated by Hometown Folks, which Davenport and his cousin, Elliott, started in 2004 after the pair previously worked with the Krystal Co. and Central Park USA. The Davenports bought the Burger King franchise in Chattanooga with 15 units, a dozen of which they remodeled, and added four more stores in their franchise territory from Sweetwater, Tenn., to Calhoun, Ga., to Manchester, Tenn.
“This is our 11th year and we’ve had positive sales every year and positive sales comparisons (with year-ago levels) 10 of 11 years,” Davenport said. “In the past two years, our sales are up in the high single digits.”
Davenport attributed the gains to its 2-for-$5 promotion, which has rotated the items available at the discounted price, plus a a renewed emphasis on chicken nuggets and the popularity of chicken fries, “which have just been off the charts.”
The Miami-based Burger King, a division of Restaurant Brands International with more than 13,000 stores, reported a 6.7 percent higher year-over-year comparable sales in its most recent fiscal quarter – its best performance in nearly a decade.
The new Brainerd store is scheduled to open Monday, weather permitting. Work crews are finishing up construction this week on the parking lot and other amenities in the 64-seat restaurant, which also will feature some new technologies for handling and cooking orders faster, Davenport said.
The restaurant will be open Monday through Thursday 5:30 a.m. to midnight and on Friday and Saturday from 5:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. and on Sundays from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. The new Burger King has created more than 50 full and part time jobs and is currently hiring workers to fill the new jobs.
Guest will be welcomed with a latest Burger King images, along with free Wi-Fi and a flat screen television sets in the dining room.
“The new restaurant has a fresh and timeless environment with revolutionary kitchen equipment,” Elliott Davenport said. “We are committed to providing our guest with an excellent dining experience.”
Monica Stutzman, who has been with Burger King Co. for 24 years and most recently worked at the Soddy-Daisy Burger King, is general restaurant manager of the new Burger King. She started working at Burger King as a cashier when she was 16 years old.
“We are looking forward to serving guests their favorite flame-broiled burgers for many years to come,” she said in a statement.”
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfree press.com at or 757-6340.