Five Guys’ chief executive officer, Jerry Murrell, said he gave a $1.5m bonus to employees of his US-based burger restaurant chain because “I didn’t want anybody shooting me” after the company recently “screwed … up” a buy-one-get-one-free promotion.
Murrell did not elaborate on the comment, which he gave to Fortune in an interview published on Wednesday – but it came a little more than a year after the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot dead on a midtown Manhattan street in what was widely considered a murderous rebuke of the US health insurance industry’s profit-driven practices.
Fortune’s conversation with Murrell revisited a two-for-one promotion that Five Guys organized in February to celebrate its 40th anniversary that proved to be much more popular than the chain expected. Five Guys’ app crashed as customers sought to take advantage of the promotion, and many overwhelmed chain locations discontinued the offer early, inviting backlash on social media.
What does that work out to, per capita?
Like it will be shared out equally. The fry cook will get 3 cents extra a week.
Wikipedia says 5000 employees. $300 each. On $2.2b sales in 2024.
What’s his personal incentive?
That’s sales not profit. 5 guys is very successful but not to profitable. They use high quality ingredients, prine locations so rent is very high. Their bread is only made ina. Few locations and goes bad in less than a week. It’s a tight ship they run. I was a GM there for a while. Seen the PNL every month for my bonus. Labor cost and food cost was about the only thing I really could control, everything else was through the roof.
And yet, I can still get a better burger for cheaper from half a dozen mom and pop shops in my town that all pay their people more than minimum wage.
Seriously, 5 Guys is high on my list of most disappointing burgers.
Better is relative in this case. Yes, there are amazing local (typically brewery around me) places, usually but not always at higher price point.
But sometimes that greasy, made the way I want it, perfectly soaked bun is the only thing that will do.
And for consistency in both service and food across any and every location I’ve been in, at this point they are unmatched on their space. For someone with a sensitive stomach, I can eat their burgers without future repercussions - no other fast food can do that. Not even whatabuger.
If I see a 5Guys when traveling it’s like an oasis.
High quality ingredients?
Doubtful
Edit: I guess I have to be the bearer of bad news. Five guys is greasey garbage with sugary peanut flavor.
If murdering billionaires in the street scares them into … improving the material conditions of their workers…
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
There really aren’t that many of them.
Luigi has done more for US workers than any number of politicians.
Or unions.
