BurgerFi International Inc., headquartered in Palm Beach, Florida, has selected the greater Williamsburg area as the site for its newest corporate-owned restaurant.
Touting itself as the fastest growing “better burger experience” chain in the nation, BurgerFi will be located at 6610 F-G Mooretown Road in York County in the Victory Village shopping center.
The grand opening will be June 29, announced Joyce Wright, general manager. There are two other BurgerFi openings this month in Neptune Beach and Juniper, Florida. Two others in the chain are located in Virginia, at Woodbridge and Leesburg.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of BurgerFi, which now has approximately 120 restaurants domestically and internationally, either company-owned or under franchise.
“The concept is chef-founded and is committed to serving fresh food of transparent quality,” a company spokeswoman said Thursday. “BurgerFi uses 100% American Angus beef with no steroids, antibiotics, growth hormones, chemicals or additives. BurgerFi’s menu also includes high quality wagyu beef, antibiotic and cage-free chicken offerings, fresh, hand-cut sides and custard shakes.”
Nationally, the better-burger movement stresses high quality non-antibiotic foods. In recent years the better-burger restaurants have gradually been taking away customers from “quick-serve burger joints” by promising better products, according to Foodtable Network.
This year BurgerFi was voted the top Better Burger chain in Fast Casual Restaurants in USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice and in 2019, Consumer Reports named it the “Best Burger Joint” and Nation’s Restaurant News listed it as the “Top Restaurant Band to Watch.”
General Manager Joyce Wright has been working the past month at the Mooretown Road location, making sure everything is coming together. Earlier this week, while working with construction personnel, she also was meeting with potential new employees, again so everything will work smoothly at the opening.
“My management crew went to Florida for three and a half weeks of training and they worked another three and a half weeks helping to open a new store there, so we would get the experience of opening our store,” Wright explained.
Wright has been in the restaurant business for many years and most recently was manager of Ruby Tuesday on Monticello Avenue which closed suddenly last year in the early stages of COVID. She worked again later last year for Ruby Tuesday but was laid off a second time.
“I was thinking about getting out of the restaurant business when I came across BurgerFi,” she said, “and discovered what a good company it is. I’m excited about being back in Williamsburg and there is a lot of traffic coming through here (at Victory Village) now.”
Computer Concepts moving
Computer Concepts will be relocating to a different building in about six weeks.
Currently situated at 5118 Center St., the new facility will be a block away at 4324 New Town Ave., Suite A. It is expected to be ready for occupancy by Aug. 1, according to store manager Ryan Craig.
The new space will not really have more square footage, “but it’s new and we’ll able to rearrange things for a better customer experience,” said Craig. “We’re able to actually purchase the building, rather than renting, and we’ll have more parking right there for our customers.”
Board members named for Child Development Resources
Four new appointments — Robert C. “Bob” Canfield, LaTonya Wallace-Conyers, John Ruesser and Barbara Engs Watson — have been made to the Child Development Resources Board of Directors, according to a news release.
Canfield, a retired U.S. Navy officer, retired as director of branch development from Ferguson Enterprises. He is currently treasurer of the Hospice House & Support Care of Williamsburg. Wallace-Conyers, a Williamsburg native, is the founder of ALC Concepts, LLC, a business management company.
Kueser, a Williamsburg area resident for more than 30 years, worked for 26 years at Kingsmill Resorts and is now director of finance for Colonial Williamsburg Resorts. Watson has worked for James City County for the past 34 years and currently heads the department of social services.
Williamsburg Ford renovates
Carter Myers Automotive, owner of Williamsburg Ford at 701 E. Rochambeau Drive in York County, is in the process of renovating and expanded its facility, according to Matthew Walsh, vice president of operations.
“We’re adopting the Ford image program on the exterior,” he said. “When we purchased the dealership two years ago last month, we told Ford we would update the facility.” In addition a new exterior “we’re totally redoing it, making it consumer friendly.”
Walsh said the modernization hopefully will be completed the second week of August, “but there have been challenges in obtaining building materials along the way.”
Also, there has been the overall challenge of new construction and renovation while keeping the dealership open and service facilities operational. For example, sales efforts in the showroom were concentrated on one side, while renovation work was ongoing on the other side. Then the effort flipped.
CMA, with headquarters in Petersburg, was founded in 1924 and now has 15 locations with “more than 3,000 new and used cars in stock and an extensive wholesale parts network that delivers throughout Virginia,” a new release said.
New Wawa opens
The new Wawa, convenience and gasoline store held a grand opening Thursday at 6446 Richmond Road at the corner of Richmond and Lightfoot roads in York County.
According to a news release, “Wawa is enhancing its convenience beyond the store’s four walls and meeting customers where they live, on their terms — with more options and more access. This new Williamsburg store will not only have all of Wawa’s customer favorites, but also new innovations in convenience including mobile ordering, curbside pickup, and delivery options.”
Additionally, the store will feature the latest in Wawa’s food options, including the new dinner menu offerings, such as the new burger, pasta, Kids Meals, “Heat and Eat Meals” and more, the release stated.
This is the third Wawa in the greater Williamsburg area. The other two are at 842 Merrimac Trail in York County and at 315 Richmond Road, across the street from the College of William & Mary.
