While Craig turned down an opportunity to work for his parents graduating from college, he worked at McDonald's for four years prior to starting his own quick-service restaurant concept via QSR magazine. Culver's set out to create a different kind of quick-service restaurant. With competition from a Hardee's located very close by, they knew that their new venture needed to stand out both with its menu and its mission.
Using Ruth Culver's homemade recipe for the ButterBurgers, a burger was made equal in size to a single scoop of ice cream because a scoop was used to make them. Having become a massive fan of frozen custard while in college, Craig Culver was the person who decided it was the perfect treat to go with the signature Butterburger.
Yet customers seemed content with Culver's pace. The chain also spent little on advertising. But its reputation for quality was apparently enough to pull people in. The chain added ten new stores in , , and Stores that had been open at least one year also increased in sales. Systemwide, this figure, known as same-store sales, grew by 7 percent in and then by more than 14 percent in By this time Culver's had opened almost units.
The chain also left the Midwest for the first time, when Craig Culver's sister and her husband opened the first of several Texas franchises in Texas was potentially a huge market. By , Craig Culver decided Wisconsin was saturated, and he pushed the chain to grow in the farthest reaches of its territory. This was a somewhat upscale version of the original Culver's.
It served deli sandwiches and cappucino as well as fresh baked goods in a dressier space. Overall sales for the chain grew by more than 40 percent in The company opened its th location in and began gearing up for even faster growth. The company planned to have close to units by The individual restaurants were getting bigger, moving from a format that seated 98 customers to one that seated The chain also revamped its strategy somewhat, moving into big cities and suburbs instead of small towns.
Culver's had started out a small-town restaurant, and most of its early locations were in towns of a similar size and character to Sauk City. But by it was clear that Culver's could hold its own in places like Dallas and Chicago.
The suburbs of big cities tended to be easy and relatively inexpensive locations for new stores, too. Suburban locations gave new restaurant franchisees the chance of high returns, so the company adjusted its growth plan to emphasize markets other than small towns. By , Culver's had opened the fourth of its company-owned stores. These were used to train new owners.
Training had gotten more rigorous, with a full 16 weeks of education and hands-on operating experience required of new franchisees. Culver's had an impressive track record. Between and , sales for the chain overall grew an astounding percent. With plans to open at least 50 new restaurants a year after , the chain predicted that its sales would triple over the next five years.
Culver's had few direct competitors because of the odd niche it occupied. It was not exactly fast food, though close to 40 percent of its sales came through its drive-throughs. It was still a very small business compared to the nationwide chains of hamburger restaurants like McDonald's and Burger King.
Culver's also seemed to have a menu that was difficult for competitors to reproduce. About one-third of the chain's sales came from its frozen custard. Craig Culver told Nation's Restaurant News January 28, that skeptics warned him that frozen custard was impossible to franchise: "You have to be so hands on.
Culver's is just one of a wave of "better burger" chains like Habit Burger and Shake Shack that have become increasingly popular in recent years. Game on. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more.
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