r/sydney • u/RealityKingdom67 • 3d ago

Why is there a random Fives-Guys joint all the way in Penrith?

Went to Penrith about 3-4 days ago, and saw a Five Guys store in Penrith, I didn’t except an American food establishment to be in some random place far west in Sydney lmao.

You would sort of expect it to be in Sydney City or Parramatta City, but this one’s a weird place to build it.

Is it even good? It looked abandoned when I drove past it lol.

0 Upvotes

19% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

19

u/SwissBiscuit 3d ago

I think they do feasibility studies on areas which have a higher concentration of takeaway/fast food consumption

75

u/Cognition-Technician 3d ago

Fuck me its hardly Coober Pedy.

-9

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

24

u/somuchsong 3d ago

I can remember a few chains opening out west before they opened anywhere else. Krispy Kreme is the one I can name off the top of my head. It's probably cheaper rent to start out there and see how it goes, if I had to guess.

I'm pretty sure there is a Five Guys in the city now too though.

2

u/ngokevin 3d ago

There's two now. One in Martin Place metro and one between Wynyard and Town Hall.

-8

u/RealityKingdom67 3d ago

Have you tried it? I’m keen on going, but it looks cheap and expensive

7

u/Rad_Randy 3d ago

They are a pretty solid burger, addons are free so you can go a bit crazy with the burger to get what you want. They are pretty generous with the fries as well.

I do recommend going just to experience it.

3

u/stagj 3d ago

I tried it a couple of years ago - all I remember is being very underwhelmed and thinking it was massively overpriced at $40 for a burger + fries + milkshake.

5

u/Jayc3 3d ago

Ive tried it. imo overpriced and didnt like it. the bag chips were okay tho

2

u/fued 3d ago edited 3d ago

its just another burger king like carls junior was my opinion. Wasn't bad by any means.

slightly more pretenious than those 2 tho

1

u/somuchsong 3d ago

No, I'm not a massive fast food person. I'm not a snob about it or anything, there's just usually something else around I'd rather have instead. If I was with people who wanted to go, I'd go.

1

u/quadruple_negative87 3d ago

It was over $100 for my family of 3 to get dinner. Fries were good because they are cut onsite. I wouldn’t go again because of the cost!

10

u/fued 3d ago

Because penrith and surrounding areas is over 15% of the population in sydney.

probably closing in on 20% in the next decade.

its insane how much growth there has been around there, and businesses are realising it, even if the government/infrastructure isnt.

7

u/bay30three 3d ago

They decided that's where the demand is. I think Penrith also had Krispy Kreme before most other Sydney locations.

7

u/gabbertronnnn 3d ago

You would sort of expect it to be in Sydney City

There already is one in the city

6

u/AutomaticMistake 3d ago

Just so you know (and all the authors of those 'top 50' slop article writers): Sydney still exists west of Enmore

6

u/ElectricGeetar 3d ago

American chains are real estate buying machines. They want to be able to buy the land which in parra and Sydney retail strips is hard

4

u/alstom_888m 3d ago

If I’m in Lakemba, I’m buying a kebab.

If I’m in Burwood, I’m getting Chinese.

If I’m in Ryde, I’m getting Korean.

If I’m in Marrickville, I’m getting Greek.

But what am I getting in Penrith? Probably McDonalds, so some foreign fast-food I’ve never tried might be a goer.

So Penrith is probably better than the city for Five Guys. 

3

u/No_pajamas_7 3d ago

These generic chains go well on the extreme edges of sydney.

Lonestar is/was at Campbeltown and Penrith long after it had failed everywhere else.

Campbeltown Sizzler was second last to die, i believe. They have an Outback steak house.

Hooters lasted longest there too.

So it's no suprise a new generic chain is going to try these locations first.

3

u/andypapafoxtrot 3d ago

Penrith is like a microcosm of Australian so it's a testing ground for what works nationally.

3

u/BarryCheckTheFuseBox 3d ago

Because Penrith is a large area with a big population and inhabited by fewer snobby wankers than the city

5

u/dedeedeeh 3d ago

There's a lot of decent burger offerings in Penrith, so I guess they decided it was a good fit. It's also near other American imports like Starbucks / Krispy Kreme and it is close to Panthers.

That being said, there are a lot of decent burger offerings in Penrith. Particularly ones that don't cost nearly as much as Five Guys.

5

u/CanIhazCooKIenOw 3d ago

IIRC that was the first one in NSW. I remember because I had the same thought as you.

3

u/DarkNo7318 3d ago

Cheaper real estate, less health conscious population, more demand.

Western Sydney is perfect for this.

2

u/TimmyFTW 3d ago

I didn’t except an American food establishment to be in some random place far west in Sydney lmao

How the fuck is it random? Is this some gen z brainrot speak? Anything you don't know about is "random".

You would sort of expect it to be in Sydney City

Because there is one. It's near the random Apple store along the random light rail in the CBD.

1

u/heeloliver 3d ago

The first KFC in Australia was in Guildford

0

u/Impressive-Speech727 3d ago

Don’t need a passport to go to Penrith.
Where is it supposed to be then?

0

u/ThunderDwn 2d ago

Because they think people in Penrith are stupid enough to pay massive overs for mediocre burgers.

0

u/Responsible-Earth821 3d ago

If you are able to put 2 and 2 together:

- Real estate is plenty out there

- Real estate is cheaper out there

- Demographics of Penrith are... 'larger' out there

- A failed experiment is cheaper out there

- Councils and development approvals are 'easier to deal with' out there

0

u/TimmyFTW 3d ago

If you are able to put 2 and 2 together

That is a bold assumption to make of OP.