Dairi-O has a new location in the works in Harrisburg, with plans to open by the end of the year at 5237 Farmington Ridge Pkwy. This spot will be the 13th for the North Carolina brand, which started in King. Other locations include spots in Mooresville, Winston-Salem, Clemmons and Thomasville.
“We have a really successful store up in Mooresville and we’ve been looking for more communities down in the Charlotte Metro area to come to,” Rusty LaRue, director of operations for Dairi-o, told What Now Charlotte. “In our research, the owner felt like Harrisburg was a great fit for our brand and our product.”
The new store will be about 5,000 square feet with about 125 seats. The fast-casual chain offers both drive-thru and dine-in options for customers, serving American fare such as hot dogs, burgers, chicken tenders, pitas, sandwiches, salads, ice cream and shakes.
“We design our restaurants to be very comfortable inside. We want communities to come eat,” LaRue said. “We have TVs inside and family tables for large groups that seat 8-10 people. It’s just one of the things we believe in. Although we have a double drive-thru and consider ourselves fast-casual, we want to be a gathering place for families and teams and things like that.”
The layout inside will be spacious and open, though it will offer a new prototype for the brand in terms of design to comply with local regulations. The team is currently hiring for positions at the Harrisburg location.
Moving forward, the brand aims to expand further in the state. They are eyeing sites in various regions, though no additional locations have been selected yet.
“Our goal is to continue to grow where it makes sense. We have consistently built one to two restaurants per year over the last 7-8 years, and the plan is to continue to do that,” LaRue said. “We don’t want to outgrow our people, so we’re cautious of that. We want to be methodical and find communities we fit with. The idea of being a community restaurant is what we want to be. We want to be immersed in the communities.”
