Toss away the frozen patties and oil-drenched fries. Premium quality meat and healthy menu options are the new industry standards for a fast-casual burger restaurant to survive in this economy. Smashburger, a fast growing burger chain, has seen tremendous growth by adopting the better-burger concept. This concept places the quality of the product, the quantity of menu options and the affordability of the meal at the head of the table when serving its customers.
Within three years, Smash Partners, a Smashburger franchise in the tristate area, opened three Smashburger restaurants in Westchester with their newest one at 49 Tarrytown Road in the town of Greenburgh. The family-owned franchise, operated by three sons and three fathers, plans to expand in areas including the Bronx and Fairfield County. With construction under way and plans to open their fourth restaurant in Scarsdale next year, their goal is 26 restaurants.
Before Smashburger restaurateurs Richard Greenstein, Ronnie Portnoy and Howard Novick formed their Smash Partners franchise in April 2011, they did their research.
After learning about the burger market and talking to a number of franchise owners across the food industry, these partners knew Smashburger was the business they wanted to adopt. Through Technomic Inc., a Chicago-based research firm, the Smash Partners found that Smashburger was one of the top 500 chain restaurants with a nearly 43 percent increase in sales from 2011 to 2012. The number of Smashburger locations grew from 193 at the end of 2012 to over 250 this year, almost double the number two years ago. Not only did Smash Partners see their capacity to grow quickly, but they knew they wouldn”™t have to compromise the value of serving quality food at an affordable price.
Because of Smashburger”™s emphasis on providing never-frozen 100 percent certified Angus beef patties and healthier food options including salads, vegetable frites and black bean burgers, more customers are likely to buy an $8 meal with them and spend $2 more than they would at a fast food restaurant like McDonald”™s, Portnoy said.
Smashburger”™s meatball patties, which are smashed on a 400-degree flat grill and seared to seal in the juices, are placed on artisan rolls. Their buns range from multigrain and egg to brioche and chipotle. Each franchise has a regional burger. Smash Partners offers the New Yorker burger with cheddar cheese, garlic grilled onions, baby spinach, tomato, lettuce and peppercorn on a brioche bun.
With a variety of menus options including its specialty Haagen-Dazs shakes, the Smash Partners believe they”™ve chosen a business model that will last after a “thinning out of the herd” happens with more burger competitors entering the market, Greenstein said.
“We”™re very selective in what franchise we choose,” Greenstein said. “We only work with the best, fastest growing brands in the class.”
Smash Partners have attested to its success in business growth in their other franchise ”“ Dunkin”™ Donuts. Greenstein and Novick have operated Westside Donut Ventures since Nov. 2006 and Portnoy began Canyon Donuts in Oct. 2003. They own 51 Dunkin”™ Donut franchises throughout the state. Greenstein and Novick started their first Dunkin”™ Donuts franchise in Manhattan, while Portnoy opened shop on Long Island. When the three came together, they all shared the vision of building a burger franchise that would grow as quickly as their Dunkin”™ Donuts franchise has.
Novick and Greenstein were retired at the time they entered the food industry while Portnoy worked in consumer electronics distribution before opening his first store.
Throughout the Smash Partners”™ involvement in the food industry, their vision was to bring their families closer together.
Lee Novick and Eric Portnoy came on board recently to help their dads run the newest Smashburger restaurant. Portnoy joined the management team in 2010, but he has been working for his dad ever since he was in high school.
“I was in 9th grade when I first started working at my dad”™s Dunkin”™ Donuts and worked my way up from being the cashier to a manager,” said Eric Portnoy, 25, who studied business management at Indiana University. “I always knew this was what I was going to do.”
Lee Novick, 25, worked in real estate for three years at Vanderbilt Appraisal in Manhattan before joining the Smash Partners team six months ago.
“I want to continue to grow this business,” said Novick, a former economics major at Penn State. “The reason why I”™m working here is because the food industry has always been an interest of mine.”
As the Smash Partners quickly expand their storefronts, the fathers are teaching their sons how to “cut their teeth” in the Smashburger business which will give the kids the tools they need to eventually operate and manage their own stores.
Daniel Greenstein, 21, a marketing major at the University of Pittsburgh, has been working with his father in both the Dunkin”™ Donuts and Smashburger franchises since he was 14. Greenstein said his son has been helping with the recruiting, hiring, training and construction of the newest Smashburger location throughout the summer. The plan after graduation is to give his son the choice of whether he wants to gain work experience in real estate before joining the Smashburger franchise full time or hit the ground running in his father”™s restaurant business right away.
“When we think about creating a family business, we like the idea of passing it down and giving it to the kids,” Greenstein said. “We”™re happy our kids are involved. We want them to absorb every part of our business, whether its operations, customer service, real estate, or legal.”
