Popular US burger chain Five Guys will be operating its South Korean business starting on June 26, its Korean retailer Hanwha Galleria announced Monday.
FG Korea, a subsidiary under Hanwha Galleria in charge of importing the US burger chain into the country, said it will be opening the chain's first franchise store in the area between Gangnam and Nonhyeon Stations in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul.
According to FG Korea, the outlet, standing on 618 square meters of land, will consist of 150 seats and begin business hours starting at 11 a.m.
"Starting with this outlet (in Gangnam), we plan on opening more than 15 outlets (in Korea) in the next five years," said an official from FG Korea via a statement.
According to FG Korea, Hanwha Galleria's main focus lies on producing products with tastes similar to Five Guys goods sold in the US.
The company said it focused on establishing a stable domestic potato supply chain, in a bid to produce ingredients similar to Russet potatoes -- the dominant potato variety sold in the US.
In order to further liken Five Guys' outlets to the brand's US shops, Hanwha Galleria said the store will also be offering free peanuts. Buckets of complimentary peanuts at Five Guys had long been an idiosyncratic business tactic for the chain to entertain customers as they wait for their food.
"You can make your own burger in up to 250,000 ways using various toppings," said an official from FG Korea.
"(Five Guys) will be able to offer customers a unique experience as well as state-of-the-art taste."
The launch of Five Guys in Korea comes as Kim Dong-sun, head of strategic management at Hanwha Galleria and the youngest son of Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn, aims to expand his presence as the de facto leader of the Hanwha group’s retail business.
According to Hanwha Galleria, Kim had been solely in charge of leading the brand's foray into the country.
"We will pay special attention to maintaining the products' quality so that customers can feel the craftsmanship in goods sold in domestic stores," said Kim during his field training session in Hong Kong in April, held in preparation for the launch of the brand in the country.
"It was very impressive to see that the quality of the goods was controlled meticulously through repeated training -- from the direction and the number of putting sauce on the products, to the strength of pressing patties," Kim added.
Five Guys currently stands as one of the largest burger chains in the world, with some 1,800 stores in 23 countries. Starting in June, Korea will become the brand's fifth market in Asia after Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Malaysia.
