rss
mobile
Feeds
Chris Smith, the franchisee who brought the chain restaurant to Bluffton in 2009, plans to open a location on the island's south end in February.
Smith said he is scheduled to sign a lease this week for a vacant spot in the Publix-anchored Island Crossing shopping center.
He said he's bringing Five Guys to Hilton Head after customers requested it.
"We're excited to give our customers what they want," Smith said.
The space, formerly a Hollywood Video, is along Palmetto Bay Road in the same building as the Starbucks Coffee Co.
Traffic to the restaurant will be seasonal, but Smith thinks the spot is ideally positioned to serve the flurry of people who flock to the island each summer.
"From Memorial Day to Labor Day, we will do extremely well," he said.
He also picked the location because he believes it is far enough from Bluffton to minimize "cannibalization."
Smith said the island restaurant is part of a second growth spurt in his territory, the greater Savannah area.
Starting in 2007, he opened shop in Bluffton and three spots in Georgia -- Brunswick, downtown Savannah and Whitemarsh Island.
He also plans to open in midtown Savannah's Twelve Oaks shopping center in November and in Pooler, Ga., in summer 2012.
That would fulfill the terms of his agreement with the chain to open seven locations, although he hopes to continue expanding to places such as Beaufort and Statesboro, Ga.
Follow reporter Josh McCann at twitter.com/LowCoBiz.
Related content
Owner of burned Bluffton store ready to reopen, May 11, 2009
