Beloved Burger Chain Culver's Plans to Open 51 New Stores This Year
Culver's has established itself as an absolute powerhouse in the Midwest dining scene, garnering rave reviews for its famous ButterBurgers and frozen custard and frequently making lists of the best regional fast-food spots. And in great news for Culver's many diehard fans, the chain is slated to grow much, much larger in 2024.
Culver's recently filed its latest franchise disclosure document (FDD), which revealed that the chain expects to open a whopping 51 stores throughout 2024. These planned openings will take place across the Midwest and South, with Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin all slated to receive at least one or a handful of new Culver's locations apiece. Culver's will grow particularly fast in Florida and Indiana this year, with 13 and eight openings planned in those states, respectively.
These aggressive expansion plans will help Culver's maintain the rapid growth pace it has set for itself in recent years. The chain ended 2023 with 944 locations, which was 52 more restaurants than it had at the start of the year, according to the FDD. Culver's also saw its store count increase by 55 locations in both 2021 and 2022.
Taking the 50 stores Culver's opened in both 2019 and 2022 into account as well, the chain has debuted an impressive 262 locations since 2019, QSR Magazine reported. Assuming it does follow through with its plans to open 51 additional locations this year, Culver's should end 2024 with just shy of 1,000 restaurants.
Culver's has also been raking in quite a bit of financial success amid this massive growth push. Excluding locations that opened in 2023 and some nontraditional stores (i.e. ones that don't have drive-thrus or share a building with a convenience store), franchised Culver's restaurants raked in nearly $3.5 million on average last year.
That's not too far off from the nearly $4 million in sales that America's largest fast-food chain—McDonald's—locations saw on average in 2023, per Restaurant Business Magazine. So even though Culver's may not boast the massive footprint as a chain like Mickey D's, which operates more than 40,000 stores globally, it can still compete with the big-name chains.
Culver's isn't the only major burger chain that plans to expand significantly moving forward. Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers expects to add about 65 new locations to its roster this year after opening a record 62 restaurants in 2023. Additionally, McDonald's is working to open around 10,000 new locations by the end of 2027, while Jack in the Box has signed commitments to build 123 new restaurants in the coming years.
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