Commercial Appeal: BurgerFi, Staks and Five Below coming to Germantown Village Square
Excerpt from Commercial Appeal: Germantown Village Square is getting the fast-casual BurgerFi — owned in part by new Tiger assistant basketball coach Mike Miller — as well as the breakfast/pancake restaurant Staks and a Five Below, the discount retailer focusing on children.
The 45-year-old center’s new owner, PEBB Enterprises, announced the future tenants on Wednesday.
The Florida-based firm has been working to make the 200,000-square-foot center at 7650-7730 Poplar a more appealing shopping experience since it bought Village Square from Boyle Investment Co. last year for $29.3 million.
PEBB has also raised the occupancy rate since early last year, from 78.9 percent to 91 percent, said Aaron Zucker, PEBB’s senior vice president of leasing.
Another new tenant, Old Navy was announced last fall and should open soon.
Old Navy has moved into much of the space previously housing an OfficeMax, and Five Below will occupy much of the rest of former OfficeMax space, Zucker said.
BurgerFi will move into some of the outparcel space made available when a Bank of Bartlett branch leaves Village Square, he said.
BurgerFi serves “natural” Angus beef as well as vegetarian hamburgers, hot dogs, milkshakes, “hand-cut” French fries, frozen custard and milkshakes, craft beer and wines. Hamburger toppings can include a fried egg or chili.
In a signature move, the seven-year-old chain of nearly 100 restaurants literally brands its hamburger buns with “BurgerFi.”
The design goal for the restaurant’s interior is to create a hang-out environment like a coffee house or bar.
The BurgerFi website emphasizes the chain’s environmental sensitivity. For example, each chair comprises 111 “upcycled Coca-Cola bottles” and the interior walls are lined with the type of pine lumber that is the most renewable timber source, the website states.
Mike Miller, the retired NBA three-point specialist who once played for the Grizzlies, is part-owner of a BurgerFi franchise group that operates 11 BurgerFi’s, according to PEBB.
“He’s a major backer,” Zucker said. “He’s a partner in the franchisee company that is opening this. He and his partners were a pleasure to deal with in the transaction.”
Staks Pancake Kitchen opened its first Memphis location at 4615 Poplar, at Perkins Extended. It’s a breakfast and lunch place, open daily 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
