[EXCLUSIVE] Smalls Sliders Set to "Drop" Georgia's First "Can" in Stockbridge

Georgia's first location of Smalls Sliders is opening sooner than you think.  According to a company representative, Smalls Sliders is "sliding" into Stockbridge with a location planned for 1660 Hudson Bridge Road.  The new restaurant, coming to currently vacant land, is slated to open early next year.  

Brandon Landry, co-founder of Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux, opened the first Smalls Sliders in Baton Rouge in 2019.  In the years since, the company has opened eighteen more locations with nearly 300 more "in development."  The majority of the existing locations are in Louisiana, but the chain has also entered Arkansas, Florida and Mississippi, with locations coming soon to Alabama, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas in addition to Georgia.  

Maria Rivera was named Smalls' CEO in November 2022.  Rivera, most recently President of Krispy Kreme US, has also held senior roles at Darden and Disney Parks, among other previous employers.  Two of Rivera's first tasks in her new role were filling several executive roles at the company and opening their new headquarters in metro Atlanta.      

Smalls is one of several restaurant brands to have relocated to metro Atlanta in recent years joining others such as Zaxby's, Blaze Pizza, Krispy Krunchy Chicken and Walk On's.  

The restaurants, known as "cans," are repurposed shipping containers that are "dropped" on site and measure about 800 square feet.  Their modular design and compact size make them conducive for sites just a half-acre in area, about half that of a typical quick-serve restaurant.  

Smalls and its limited menu are seeking to avoid the pitfalls that plagued BurgerIM a few years back.  BurgerIM, another slider concept, grew tremendously in a short period of time only to see more than a hundred restaurants close and another 1,500 never open, despite having been "sold."  

Smalls keeps things incredible simple.  Their menu consists of cheeseburger sliders, waffle cut fries and three shakes: vanilla, chocolate and cookies & cream.  The sliders are offered individually or as part of a combo (with fries and a Coke product) and add-ons like sauce "Smauce" and bacon are available, but that's about it.  

“We have less than 10 food ingredients in the restaurant, where a lot of quick-service restaurants have several hundred ingredients that they have to manage,” Smalls Chief Development Officer Richard Leveille told QSR Magazine in 2023.

Essentially, Smalls is looking to become the Raising Cane's of burgers with an incredibly limited menu but an efficient, lucrative operation.  According to published reports, Smalls Sliders' AUV (Average Unit Volume) as of late 2023 exceeded $2 million.     

The Stockbridge restaurant is being opened by Purple Buns GA, LLC, an affiliate of Purple Square Management Company, a Tampa-based group. Purple Square, led by husband and wife Vik and Sneha Patel, own and operate dozens of franchise businesses including Dunkin', Baskin Robbins, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, The Brass Tap, Rent-A-Center, RimTyme, and Take 5 Oil Change.  Purple Square has partnered with developer Alex Deitch to grow the brand throughout the country.   Stockbridge will mark the group's first foray into the Smalls Sliders brand.  According to the company, Purple Square is currently developing Smalls Sliders in Atlanta, Tampa, and Phoenix.   

In addition to Purple Buns, another franchise group, PAR Concepts, an affiliate of ROMO-PADA Development, LLC, is also opening Smalls Sliders in Georgia.  Planning documents reviewed by ToNeTo Atlanta suggest that the group's first location should start construction in the coming weeks in Warner Robins.  The restaurant, planned for Watson Boulevard, would be joined by upcoming locations of Guthrie's Chicken and Dutch Bros. Coffee, too.  

The Stockbridge "Can Drop" is scheduled for Friday November 22 at 9AM.  Sources close to the restaurant tell ToNeTo Atlanta that the current plan is to have the restaurant open by the end of January.  The Warner Robins location would open after that with several others, primarily in the suburbs of Atlanta, slated for later in 2025 and beyond.     

Have you been to Smalls Sliders?  Does the idea of Smalls Sliders interest you?  Where would you like to see Smalls Sliders open next?

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