Five Guys will continue its expansion in Barcelona in 2022

Five Guys has just opened its fifth location in Barcelona. After those in La Maquinista, Sagrada Família, Diagonal Mar, and Plaza Catalunya, the American burger chain has arrived on Diagonal, settling at number 449, a less touristy location in the heart of the urban fabric. The director of Five Guys in Spain and Portugal, Daniel Agromayor, states that the chain still has room to grow in the city, especially in its neighborhoods, although he does not rule out continuing to grow in more shopping centers and other nearby municipalities.

Agromayor argues that locations like Diagonal allow them to connect with both local residents and shoppers passing through for shopping. They also focus on office workers around them, the main customers seen this Monday, their first day of opening. "We like this type of environment. Perhaps we will have more locations on Diagonal," he indicates.

According to the executive, the Catalan capital will open at least one new location next year. To start, Paseo de Gràcia has been chosen for its sixth location. Specifically, it will be at number 28, where the Divinus restaurant used to be, according to Expansión. The company reports that it will have an area of 550 square meters divided into two floors, plus a terrace, and a total capacity for 135 diners.

Five Guys' plans involve equating Barcelona with Madrid, the city in Spain with the most locations, with a total of nine and a tenth already announced. "We have a clear vocation to make Barcelona tie with Madrid," says Agromayor. Despite the distance from the capital of Madrid, Barcelona concentrates a quarter of the chain's staff in Spain, with 200 workers out of a total of 800.

In the case of the establishment on Diagonal, its opening has meant the hiring of 45 workers and an investment of several million euros to renovate the establishment, where there was previously a restaurant from the El Racó chain. With a total area of 280 square meters, the premises have capacity for about eighty diners inside and also have a terrace.

This opening is the first that Five Guys has made in Barcelona after the outbreak of the COVID crisis. The pandemic halted the expansion plans of the American chain in Spain. Agromayor reactivated them this May in Madrid, with a new location in the La Vaguada shopping center. Then it went to Alicante, Malaga, and Seville. The one in the Catalan capital has been the last to open this 2021, which closes with five openings, more than were made in 2019, and allows reaching 21 locations, all of them operated by the subsidiary Five Guys Spain, without franchises. Valencia, Granada, and Bilbao are the other Spanish cities where the chain has a presence.