Whataburger planning 4 new restaurants in SC. Here’s where

The national Whataburger chain is set to expand further into South Carolina with four restaurants for Spartanburg County, according to planning department documents and city officials.

Two will be in the city of Spartanburg, one in Boiling Springs and one in Duncan.

A location in Anderson has been previously reported.

The chain is not related to the Midlands-based What-A-Burger, which is locally owned.

Whataburger is based in San Antonio, Texas, with 930 restaurants in 14 states and sales of more than $3 billion annually, according to its website.

The chain is on an ambitious growth path, opening 15 or more locations a year recently, including in areas outside its southern roots. A store opened recently in Colorado..

The company started in 1950 — as did the Midlands location — as a roadside burger stand by Harmon Dobson in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Dobson died in a crash of a private plane in 1967, and his wife Grace took over the company. By the time she died in 2005 at age 80, the company had grown to 600 stores.

The family sold its majority interest in the company in 2019 to Chicago-based investment firm BDT Capital, which after a 20-year hiatus, is pushing for franchise operators.

The company website says to become a franchisee, a person needs $1.2 million cash, a minimum net worth of $12.5 million and commit to opening at least five locations in five years.

In Spartanburg County, a site plan was approved for a Wataburger on W.O. Ezell Boulevard is a former Wagreen’s drug store in an area with lots of restaurants and stores. The other city location is on East Main, but has not yet been approved by the city. Another location is in fast-growing Boiling Springs, across from a Quick Trip on Highway 8.

The fourth location is in Duncan in a former Bank of America building.

Town Administrator Cameron Fant said the data for the town — population 4,200 — is a bit misleading when thinking about a national chain locating in your downtown. The town is located a quarter mile from a busy interchange off Interstate 85.

In recent years, the town has attracted a Culver’s, Wayback, Arby’s and a Biscuitville under construction is soon to open.

The Whataburger is likely to begin construction in a couple of months with completion nine months away.

Fant said his family sampled the fare on vacation in Florida earlier this year and came away with this pronouncement: “We’re very excited.”