Two Krystals Slated to Open in 2007

Fayetteville will have its first Krystal fast food restaurant by July 2007, said Brian D. Smith, partner in SmitCo Eateries Inc. of Pine Bluff. By 2010, SmitCo plans to have at least five Krystal restaurants open in Fayetteville, Rogers, Springdale, Fort Smith and Van Buren.

Smith said the company’s negotiating on property for each of the sites, and by next year there will be two locations open.

SmitCo has the franchise rights in Benton, Washington, Sebastian and Crawford counties. After those five restaurants open, SmitCo will have the option to build more in the area.

Each Krystal restaurant will cost about $1.2 million to build, depending on land prices, Smith said. Each Krystal restaurant will be about 2,100 SF in size and can seat about 60. Each restaurant will have about 25 to 30 employees, he said.

Krystal is owned by Krystal Co. of Atlanta, and is famous for its small, square hamburgers. It also has chicken sandwiches on a square bun, small hot dogs and little corn dogs. For breakfast, Krystal offers egg scramblers, biscuit sandwiches and, of course, sausage and egg on a square bun.

Smith, who also has four Popeyes Chicken & Biscuit restaurants in the four-county area, will open three more Popeyes restaurants by January, he said. A Van Buren restaurant will open July 17, and two other locations — one on Sixth Street in Fayetteville and another on U.S. Highway 412 in Springdale.

Smith said the cost to build those restaurants is also about $1.2 million each.