Five Guys, Taking a Bigger Bite

But places like the Hamburger Hamlet aren't exactly worried. Leon Hines, the manager of the Hamlet in the Rio Entertainment Center, didn't even know there was a Five Guys in the nearby Kentlands. Besides, he said, his restaurant offers a more traditional restaurant experience. "We're selling more than hamburgers," he said. "We've got salads. We've got steaks."

With their quick growth, the Murrells have made a lot of fans. Each has a story about someone bowing down before them, as if genuflecting to a burger deity. They've even been asked to cater weddings. But the Murrells are remarkably humble and private, franchise owners say, and talk about their fame makes them squirmy. They'd rather talk burgers.

The beginnings were indeed modest. Two decades ago, after Janie and Jerry Murrell made a nice pile of cash -- their phrase -- in the insurance and financial planning business, they decided to start their own business, in part to keep their family in one place. Thousands of people around the country at this very moment are batting around similar small business ideas, hoping to break free from the suit-and-tie world. In the Murrell's case, Jerry suggested a chuck wagon serving burgers and fries. "Oh my god, he's lost his mind," Matt thought.

But Jerry really wanted to sell burgers. He remembered a little burger joint from his childhood in Michigan. "Back where I came from, I knew a guy who did nothing but sell hamburgers," he said. "He always had a good business. I just always thought that if you sold hamburgers, you would do all right."

The Murrells, who live in Northern Virginia, opened their first Five Guys on Columbia Pike and Glebe Road in Arlington. They made several fundamental decisions about the business then, most of which still remain. One of those was frying fries in peanut oil. Better taste, no cholesterol. So they went to the grocery store and bought 50 little bottles of peanut oil.

"We cleaned them off the shelves," Matt said.

Because they didn't make it in bulk?

"No," Matt said. "We didn't know they made it in bulk."

Lesson learned. More stores followed. Pretty soon, investors and even customers started begging them to franchise. One man even leaned over the counter and told Matt, "I've got $30,000 I'll give you if you want to open another store." The Murrells always said no, fearing the business would suffer. They worried about pressure to expand the menu beyond burgers, fries, hot dogs and grilled cheese. "We didn't want to compromise on what we had going," Janie said.

Their reluctance eased a few years ago. They made the decision to franchise after -- true story -- Matt gave his father the book "Franchising For Dummies," which is co-authored by Wendy's founder Dave Thomas. They had also been approached previously by Dan Rowe at Fransmart, who was working with former Redskins kicker Mark Moseley. Rowe and Moseley convinced the Murrells they could make it work on their terms.

The Murrells are self-described control freaks. No detail is too trivial. So they decided to limit the number of franchise owners so there wouldn't be too many people to control. Thus, you can't buy one Five Guys franchise. You have to buy at least five -- essentially filling up a small territory. The current price for each one is $45,000, plus 6 percent of annual sales. By comparison, a new McDonald's franchise fee is $45,000.

Requiring a large purchase of stores also, the Murrells said, attracts more professional owners. High-tech executives, former Marriott executives, and owners of fine restaurants have signed up. "They see something that's a good opportunity," said Moseley, who owns Five Guys franchises and works full time selling them for the company. "There's a better than even chance to be really successful in something that belongs to you."

The Five Guys franchising contract is rather specific, stipulating the number of bacon strips (two) and pickles (four) placed on burgers should those items be requested. The Murrells send in secret customers to make sure, for instance, that the hand-cut French fries are shaken 15 times after seasoning. The Murrells have found through extensive study that this tactic takes off just the right amount of grease.

Also, after a burger is placed on the grill, it is to be flattened only once, so as not to squeeze out all the juice. Tyler Murrell was once a customer at a franchise store. He saw the grill man press down more than once on the meat. He leapt over the counter to stop him.

There is also a stipulation that franchises use Mount Olive pickles. "We have tasted every pickle that you could cut and slice and put in a jar," Matt Murrell said. "We have been using the Mount Olive pickle for the last 10 years. It's crunchy. If you eat pickles, you know there are sweet pickles, sour pickles, soft pickles, crunchy pickles. There's all kinds of pickles, but we like the Mount Olive pickles."

The Murrells, who bake the buns for all the stores, run the operation out of a warehouse in Lorton, with each son overseeing different parts of the business. They have hired an operations director, a dozen district managers, a developer of new stores, lawyers, accountants and a publicity director. They are spending most of their revenue on expanding the business -- and thus, their family.

The obvious question: Will they ever take the company public? They insist they won't. Jerry said, "We've already turned down a lot of money." And besides, Janie said: "We're having too much fun. We're a family and we've gone on this journey together."