Burger 21 Eyes North Little Rock for Next Location

You’ve probably heard that Burger 21 is opening today (or has opened, depending on when you read this; the grand opening was set for 10:45 a.m.) at 12319 Chenal Parkway in Little Rock. But you may not have heard about franchisee Allen Hurst’s plans for more Burger 21 restaurants.

Hurst, a Little Rock native who has spent the last 15 years in Colorado, and his family have moved back to Arkansas — to Little Rock — and he has set his sights on a second Burger 21 location in North Little Rock, probably in the McCain Boulevard-Landers Road vicinity. Hurst would like to have that open by the first or second quarter of 2018.

Hurst is aiming for a third location in northwest Arkansas, probably Rogers, and as for a fourth Burger 21 restaurant, he’s debating between Conway and the Benton-Bryant area. Hurst is hoping to get all four open within the next two to three years.

The 2,500-SF Little Rock location will eventually employ 25 to 30 full-time and part-time workers. Hurst said that at first he was having trouble attracting enough job applicants. He soon learned that placing a help-wanted ad on Indeed.com was the way to go, he said, generating 426 applications.

And Hurst has learned to adapt his hiring to the habits of millennials, who would as soon text as talk on the phone. When he gets an inquiry, he quickly texts the applicant. “You get almost a 90 percent response rate when you text the applicant fairly soon after they apply,” he said. “I’ve actually hired some people simply on texting.”

This is the first foray into Arkansas for Burger 21, a fast-casual specialty burger franchise based in Tampa, Florida. Hurst likes the variety of burgers and other options that can be found at Burger 21, because it can accommodate a variety of tastes.

He also likes that he’s the first to open a Burger 21 in Arkansas. “I wanted to be first to market with a new concept and I knew Arkansas didn’t have one.”

“I’m here because I wanted to come home,” Hurst added.