The introduction of the burger chain

to Kalamazoo earlier this month was a homecoming of sorts for founder Tom Ryan, who grew up in Grand Rapids and received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Michigan State University.

Today, after 20 years of experience in marketing, branding, consumer research and concept/product development for packaged goods and restaurant/retail companies, Ryan leads concept product and brand development services as a managing partner and chief concept officer of Denver-based Consumer Capital Partners, the firm that created Smashburger in 2007.

“Smashburger was built for burger eaters. People who love burgers, people who like burgers,” Ryan said in an interview from Minneapolis. “It’s really a burger-centric concept.”

Ryan's Smashburger does for burgers and fries what Noodles & Company and the Fire Bowl Café have done for pasta and Asian food: All three share a “fast casual” approach to dining — where you order at the counter but wait for your food at a table — and a concept that places an emphasis on choice.

At the Smashburger that opened Aug. 11 at 4315 W. Main St., in Kalamazoo, options are given for everything from size the of the beef (quarter- to half-pound burgers) to nearly a dozen add-ons, including egg, chili, sautéed mushrooms and haystack onions.

Creating the concept

While Smashburger may call to mind its conceptual sisters down the road, Ryan cut his teeth working in marketing and development for iconic brands like Pizza Hut — where he helped develop the stuffed-crust pizza and the “Lovers” line — and McDonald’s — where he did the same for items like the McGriddles breakfast sandwiches, the Big N’ Tasty and for concepts like the Dollar Menu.

The idea for Smashburger came about after his team at Consumer Capital Partners began to notice a desert spreading over the landscape of modern restaurants offering burgers.

“Back in 2005, we identified this emerging space in burgers,” Ryan said. The current burger places were either “not paying attention” to burgers or were using old models, such as sitting people down and taking a half hour to get them their food.

Smashburger filled in that space between fast-food burgers and sit-down burgers, he said, while other burger joints hadn’t found that balance.

Ryan couldn’t say his past experiences with specific products in the food industry led directly to his idea for the Smashburger concept, but he did acknowledge their help in assisting him to learn how to listen to consumers.

“Each and every one of those was a learning experience,” he said. “The process of creating is a constant learning process, and that was alive and well in every element of Smashburger.”

A localized experience

According to the chain’s official website, by year’s end Smashburger will have signed more than 350 franchise agreements and will have approximately 100 stores open in more than 15 states. If all goes as planned, the new Kalamazoo location will be just the first of six locations to open in the region.

Ryan said one of the cool things about the company’s ethos to “listen and create” is that it enables them to localize each Smashburger menu to suit a particular area.

“We’ve got to do something in all those places that makes us almost magical to them,” he said.

In Kalamazoo, that means a regional menu that includes the Michigan Olive Smashburger; a Cherry BBQ Bacon & Cheese Smashburger that includes Michigan cherry barbecue sauce; and

ginger ale, which originated in Detroit.

While the 100 percent Angus beef patties used in the burgers at Smashburger are the central focus, the restaurant also offers chicken breasts — because, as Ryan noted, while the chain was built for people who love burgers, those people don’t always come with other people who do — and all are smashed, seared and seasoned on the grill.

The restaurant also offers hot dogs and, for those with a lighter appetite, salads, as well as a number of sides.

It’s all about offering what Ryan referred to a number of times as a “balance” for consumers looking for a good meal.

“Smashburger has the benefit of having this great balance of service, convenience and experience,” he said. “And the experience is really about the food.”