Burger King invests another $300 million to renovate its restaurants

Burger King will invest an additional $300 million to renovate about 1,100 of its U.S. restaurants as part of a broader turnaround effort, the chain’s parent company announced Tuesday.

Owner International restaurant brands launched Burger King’s comeback strategy a year and a half ago with $250 million to renovate restaurants and upgrade its technology and equipment, plus another $150 million to invest in its mobile app and advertising.

In January, the parent company bought Burger King’s largest U.S. franchisee, Carrols Restaurant Group, for $1 billion to speed up the renovation process. The company estimates it will spend an additional $500 million to upgrade 600 Carrols sites.

Including the investment announced Tuesday, Restaurant Brands plans to spend about $2.2 billion to revitalize the chain’s U.S. operations. The company expects 85% to 90% of its approximately 7,000 U.S. restaurants to have the same modern design by 2028.

“This was the first time in a long time that RBI reinvested a significant amount of capital into the company to co-invest with the franchisees,” Burger King U.S. President Tom Curtis told CNBC. “I think the process was, ‘Let’s see how this works’…and we’re seeing the first results of the renovations.”

So far, about 100 Burger King locations have been renovated and updated. These locations saw an increase in sales after their renovation, according to Curtis.

The latest round of renovations will follow Burger King’s new “Sizzle” design, which includes drive-thru pickup for mobile orders and self-order kiosks. These new features should encourage customers to order even more Whoppers and fries.

However, Burger King had to invest its own money to encourage franchisees to renovate. Renovations can be costly – especially with high interest rates – and often require temporary site closures.

As with Restaurant Brands’ first round of investment, Burger King franchisees who choose to renovate their locations will receive money once construction is complete. Burger King will let operators choose how much of a discount they will receive on the fees they pay to the company.

Starting Tuesday, Curtis will participate in a roadshow across the United States to present the remodeling strategy to franchisees and begin the application process for the $300 million investment.