Michael Gould, who leads Illinois-based MJG Enterprises, acquired 18 Burger Kings in and around Grand Rapids, Michigan, bringing his total until count to 31. As the Home of the Whopper continues its broader revitalization efforts, the 71-year-old brand is “on the right path,” says Gould.
Over his four-decade journey with Burger King, Michael Gould said he’s seen it all. And it’s what he’s seeing from the brand now that gives him the confidence to continue expanding his unit count.
“I've seen this brand over 40 years and all the changes and evolutions and all the leadership changes that were nonstop. It seems like every other year we were getting new CEOs or presidents and stuff like that,” said Gould, who in 1985 started working as an assistant manager at a Burger King in Mount Prospect, Illinois, and today is a multi-unit franchisee. “I think the leadership team that we have in place right now, by far, has been the best that I've seen over the 40 years. They really understand the business and where it needs to go.”
Michael Gould formed MJG Enterprises in 2012 and operates 31 Burger King restaurants in Illinois and Michigan.
Tom Curtis, named president of Burger King U.S. in 2021, and Patrick Doyle, the former Domino’s CEO who joined BK parent Restaurant Brands International as executive chairman in 2022, have proven particularly effective leaders, Gould said.
“I think they're really on the right path in striving to improve operations throughout the whole brand, and with the ‘Reclaim the Flame’ program in terms of uplifting the image of the restaurants,” he said. “Those two things … that’s a central key of driving the brand forward and improving sales.”
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Gould’s MJG Enterprises, which he launched in 2012 with two Burger King units, is now up to 31 restaurants after the acquisition of 18 stores in and around Grand Rapids, Michigan. The transaction closed this summer; Gould declined to share the purchase price.
Based in Libertyville, Illinois, MJG’s other locations are all in the greater Chicago area.
The restaurants, purchased from operator Factorial Restaurant Holdings, were “performing OK,” Gould said, with “some operational improvement opportunities.” Son Ryan Gould is vice president of operations and, noted the elder Gould, “was eager to take on the challenge of bringing these restaurants on board.” (Wife Jennifer Gould is MJG’s VP of administration.)
As part of the acquisition, MJG Enterprises agreed to remodel eight of the 18 restaurants over the next four years to bring them up to date with Burger King’s Sizzle design and equipment package. The remodels will include upgrades to the new point-of-sale system and the installation of self-order kiosks, Gould noted.
Burger King’s remodel program, dubbed “Royal Reset,” is part of the $400 million “Reclaim the Flame” initiative launched in late 2022 in an effort to drive sales at its restaurants in the United States. Across the domestic system, hundreds of restaurants have already been remodeled, and RBI in its third quarter earnings call October 30 said about 85 percent of the system is expected to be modernized by the end of 2028.
Burger King has about 6,700 locations in the U.S.
For the third quarter, Burger King reversed the same-store sales decline from Q2 with a 3.2 percent increase for U.S. locations. Josh Kobza, RBI’s chief executive, said during the earnings call that the positive results came because Burger King hasn’t “deviated from the plan.”
Burger King's remodel program includes the addition of self-order kiosks.
“We've kept consistent even as you've had some macro ups and downs and you've had some shifts in focus from different competitors,” he said. “I think sticking to our playbook, focusing on our strengths and being consistent” in areas such as value have created momentum.
Gould said he remodeled three of his restaurants in Illinois this year, with two more projects planned for 2026. The uplift in sales is encouraging, he noted, with a store that was completed in January seeing a sales increase of nearly 20 percent. A second remolded location inside a Walmart is up about 8 percent.
A recipient of the brand’s Franchisee Excellence Award this year, Gould characterized MJG Enterprises as an “A operator” and said his stores consistently outperform the national average unit volume of $1.6 million by “a couple hundred thousand.”
“The No. 1 thing is letting the employees know that you're invested in their success, and really developing a relationship and trust between the management team and the employees,” Gould said of his overall approach as an operator. “It’s doing what you say in terms of the support that you're going to give them.”
MJG offers performance incentives and bonuses based on a variety of metrics such as speed of service and ratings during mystery shops. Being a visible leader also matters, he added.
“I'm extremely hands on, along with my son, and we're in the restaurants,” he said. “And I mean every day, I’m in the restaurants, whether it's one restaurant I can get to that day or two or three.”
“Our district managers all know that there's no work from home,” he continued. “This is not a work-from-home business.”