Los Santos, SA – The fast food burger is a staple of the American diet, and Burger Shot has worked for decades to make themselves a household name in the industry. The mammoth of a sandwich, the 6 pound Heartstopper burger is a mainstay of the chain that has been adored and taken lives the nation over.
As Kyle Winters, a Burger Shot franchisee, has found out though, even if the burgers sell themselves, the business doesn’t run itself. On Monday it was made public that the Vespucci Canals location in Los Santos, San Andreas was entering foreclosure, effective immediately. The reveal seems to almost have been accidental, as it was first mentioned in a tweet by the Twitter account @draco_jones on 8 May, 2023, while looking for a new line of employment.
Gianna Cornell, the General Manager of the location, said that she was sad to see the beachside business close its doors.
“I took great pride in serving hot, delicious food to the citizens of Los Santos each and every time I was behind that counter,” Cornell remarked. “I am deeply saddened that Mr. Benson announced the foreclosure of Burgershot and I wish that whoever runs the fine establishment next loves it as much as myself and the rest of the staff did.”
Mr. Benson refers to a Mr. Brian Benson of Benson’s Businesses, the realtor who was renting the location to Mr. Winters.
Mr. Benson acted as the intermediary between Burger Shot and the franchisee, and was responsible for ensuring that the franchise remained an adequate example of the Burger Shot experience.
Mr. Winters had a grand reopening for the location at 8092 W San Andreas Ave on 23 February, 2023. The location originally opened on 15 July, 2022 and was bought under silent auction, but later changed hands to Mr. Winter.
Recently however, it came to Bensons attention that the reputation as a reputable business was starting to fall into question.
“Over the last few weeks I had begun noticing some less than appropriate behaviour over Twitter from individuals posing as BS staff. So I decided to visit the premises for a closer look – and I was met with Exoctic Dancers. They were dancing on the “Food Safe” countertops and offering private dances.”
Beyond the exotic dancing and food safety violations, Benson shared that he discovered many of the employees of the location had a background which did not meet the Burger Shot requirements, and that one of these employees was falsely representing themselves as the owner of the franchise. It was also discovered that some of the social media accounts of the employees of the establishment were “Bursting with malicious content.”
It also turns out that Mr. Winters had not been paying his rent for the business for many months.
With all of this information now brought to light, Benson’s Businesses immediately took control of the property and dismissed all the staff.
Kyle Winters has not responded when asked for comment on the foreclosure.
Burger Shot, Inc (BGR) put out a press release on Wednesday saying how disappointed they are with the actions of Mr. Winters, and offered a sincere apology to any Burger Shot patrons who had been impacted by its mismanagement. “Burger Shot was built on the values of wholesome meals for wholesome people. We do not condone the actions of anyone involved at the Vespucci Canals location. We take the business of our Rim Jobs seriously, and won’t tolerate it being shit on, just like with any of our other great meals.”
While the Canals location is closed down, Benson’s Businesses will be making upgrades to the facility, before putting it back up for lease at what Benson calls “a new attractive rate.” Time will tell if these changes will be enough to encourage the next owner to be more diligent about its upkeep.
————-
Chris Barstow-Carson Chris is a freelance reporter. He aims to bring truth to the people through honest reporting of the unknown stories. He got his start in Liberty City where he broke the story of how the city’s biggest factory was dumping chemicals into the local water supply, which led to a formal investigation and a $5 million fine. He looks for the human story wherever it is.
