CaliBurger Opening Five Stores By End of Next Year

An expanding California burger chain, which has been compared to West Coast cult favorite In-N-Out, is plotting at least five new stores in Greater Baltimore by the end of 2017 and 10 stores over the next 10 years.

CaliBurger opened a 2k SF store this week in downtown Columbia’s The Metropolitan apartment building. Next up is a store at the Foxtail Shopping Center at 1924 York Rd in Timonium, opening in September, says local franchisee Sumeet Goel. An Annapolis store will open January 2017, followed by Severna Park and Arundel Mills.

Sumeet says he expects to invest $300k to $350k per store. He is also eyeing the neighborhood surrounding Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus and the Canton neighborhood for additional locations.

CaliBurger is in the final stages of lease negotiations for the Annapolis store and has signed a letter of intent for the Arundel Mills and Severna Park stores.

The franchisee is scouring sites between 1,700 and 2,200 SF in high-traffic areas and accessible to major transportation routes. The buildings should be modern enough to support high-tech features, including large-screen TVs displaying multiplayer video games.

CaliBurger is the latest burger chain to open in the region, along with downtown’s Shake Shack and Smashburger, which recently shuttered its Fells Point location but operates a store in Ellicott City. Sumeet says the company’s charity events benefiting the community's military, police and Special Olympics, and focus on fresh, quality ingredients will hopefully help it stand out from the pack. CaliBurger also serves milkshakes, a chicken burger and fries.