By Curt Peterson
Five Guys opened on North Main Street Feb. 13.
By Curt Peterson
RUTLAND— Hyde Park Ventures, which owns two other Five Guys Burgers locations in Vermont, opened its third on North Main Street in Rutland on Wednesday, Feb.13.
“We sold $16,000 worth of delicious food on Wednesday,” Store Manager Louella Prouty told the Mountain Times. “It was crazy in here. We did twice as well as we expected.”
People were waiting outside in the cold, so Prouty opened the doors a few minutes early.
“We put our first $100 in the register before we were officially open,” she said.
The menu includes eight types of burgers, four types of hot dogs, four non-meat sandwiches and two kinds of French fries, all at reasonable prices. Their “hand-spun” milkshakes are vanilla-based and served with or without whipped cream, and there are ten options for blend-ins, including bacon, peanut butter, and salted caramel. The store will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.
At more urban locations customers are able to have their food delivered by Uber Eats, Grub Hub, Amazon, or DoorDash, but Prouty said Rutland currently lacks a delivery service.
The location, formerly a Mobil Station, had been vacant since 2017. The new store adheres to the company’s “clean, no-frills atmosphere” – high ceiling, simple décor – lots of red and white – and furnishings, drawing the eye to the food preparation.
Prouty said she has hired more than sixty people hired to support the store, and she’s hoping to hire more. She wants Five Guys to be part of Rutland’s revival.
A Clarendon Springs native, Prouty lives in Pittsford, has three children and three grandchildren. She said the two-week training course in Lorton VA was grueling – videos, classroom time, sixteen-hour days.
“When arrived they told us the session was called ‘hell week’,” she said. “They weren’t kidding.”
The company insists their franchisees maintain strict standards – they employ “Mystery Shoppers” who play customer at random stores to check that rules about quality and service are being followed.
Since they opened their first franchise in 2003, Five Guys Burgers has become a huge success, with over 1,600 stores. Jerry Murrell, the company’s founder, thought of the idea, and opened their first hamburger store in 1986. All five of his sons, the “five guys”, were involved and still all work in the business.
The company is headquartered in Arlington Virginia, where they opened their first franchised location in 2003.
The Rutland franchise, like the other two Vermont stores, is owned by Hyde Park Ventures from Natick MA. Greg Vasey, one of Hyde Park’s owners, said the firm has been investing in Vermont for 10 years. Jody Goehring, Five Guys spokesperson, said the family grew up skiing at Killington, were attracted by the size and strength of the Rutland market, and had sought a location for some time.
Besides the warm welcome from hordes of customers, Prouty said, the town and local businesses have been very supportive of her efforts to get the store open.
“And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the help from the Department of Labor,” Prouty said.
