[ALERT] Jack in the Box Will Finally "Pop Up" in Georgia

Jack in the Box plans to open as many as 15 units in Georgia, the San Diego-based company announced Tuesday. The openings, which are slated to occur over an unspecified amount of time, will focus on the Augusta, Savannah, and Macon markets, rather than metro Atlanta, as one might have hoped.  

The unidentified franchisee is likely focusing on smaller markets given that they tend to be less expensive and easier to penetrate than the metro Atlanta core.  (Convenience store operator Wawa announced plans in 2022 to enter the state with their growth also focused on southern and coastal Georgia.)  

Jack in the Box was founded in San Diego in 1951 and has today grown through franchising to become one of the nation's largest hamburger chains with approximately 2,200 restaurants across 22 states.   There were rumblings in late 2012 that the company planned to enter the Atlanta market but those plans never materialized.  

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK), in 2022 acquired the Del Taco chain of quick-serve Mexican restaurants.  Del Taco has made multiple attempts at the metro Atlanta market and following the closures of locations in East Cobb, Roswell, Milton, Buford, and Loganville in recent years, today operates 23 locations in the state, with the majority of them in smaller markets like Centerville, Fort Oglethorpe, Dalton, Calhoun and Hiram, among others.  (Locations in Fayetteville, Griffin, and Riverdale are all currently listed for sale.) 

Jack in the Box relaunched franchising in 2021, and since then has entered a number of new markets including Louisville and Salt Lake City, with plans to open their first locations in Mexico later this year.  

The company has been franchising aggressively as of late, with some 400+ restaurants in its immediate pipeline.  Jack in the Box is preparing to re-enter the Florida market after a more than four decade absence, following a deal last spring, and recently signed a deal to bring the brand to Michigan, too.  The company also announced in December 2022 it signed an agreement with Jeff Yablun and Frank Conley of Cedar Tree Restaurant Group for 37 new restaurants and 46 existing stores in four southeast markets: Nashville, TN, Baton Rouge, LA, Greenville, SC, and Charlotte, NC.  The Cedar Tree deal, however, came after the closure of several units in and around Nashville in recent years.  

To help fuel growth and become nimbler for new markets, the company recently introduced a new 1,350 square foot prototype designed with convenience and efficiency in mind. The prototype restaurant features dual drive-thrus for higher volume and a walk-up window for mobile orders.  

Jack in the Box is not the only burger chain in growth mode with Georgia on its mind.  San Antonio-based Whataburger had for years just one Georgia location in Thomasville.  In recent years the company finally grew its presence in the state.   Since entering metro Atlanta with a location in Kennesaw in late 2022, the burger chain added fifteen locations to greater metro Atlanta, including locations on Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw, Scenic Highway in Snellville, and Duval Road in Dawsonville, among others.  Whataburger executives descended on Atlanta this past January to celebrate both the first Whataburger to carry an Atlanta address and also the chain's 1,000th location chain wide.  The company plans to have a total of 50 locations across Georgia by 2030.    

Jack in the Box's arrival in Georgia also comes on the heels of the closure of more than a dozen Hardee's restaurants in 2023 as one its largest franchisees filed for bankruptcy.  

The move into Georgia, according to Jack in the Box’s chief development officer, Tim Linderman, “represents a significant step forward in our strategic expansion across the Southeastern United States.”  

Where would you like to see Jack in the Box open in Georgia?  Do you think Jack in the Box is better or worse than some of its bigger burger rivals?  What burger joint do you think has the best fries?

Please share your thoughts below.