Burger King To Reopen With New Look After Renovations

Hold the fries.  on Graham Road temporarily closed its doors Saturday.

But the closure is only temporary. The fast food chain will reopen and start serving up Whoppers again sometime in April.

Some patrons were unhappy the business closed without warning.

Patty McClure Whitaker posted on the Stow Patch Facebook page that she went to Burger King "Monday morning to buy coffee and the signs on the drive thru and windows say 'This store closed, please check our other locations.'"

The two-acre property, owned by MASC and Associates, of Canton, is now a franchise of Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc., which also operates the other Stow  at 1560 Norton Rd.

Stow  approved building-alteration plans March 4 that Carrols submitted for interior and exterior renovations to the 3,240-square-foot facility, as well as for the demolition of an existing interior playground, said Clerk Barb Anderson of the Stow building and engineering department.

"Glad to hear they are not closing. It does come as somewhat of a relief, as my son and his teenage friends use it as a hangout after school when I’m going to be late in picking them up," said Adrienne Mann, who noticed the business suddenly closed last week. "Overall, the inside of the restaurant did have a distinctly '80s feel so it was probably time for a remodel."

In addition to changes to its facility, the Burger King franchise has undergone a change in franchise operators.

Since its original opening in 1988, the Burger King franchise on Graham Road had been operated by Steve O’Dell, a former Stow resident. Then O’Dell sold it to Carrols, a company based in Syracuse, NY, said Tom Schervish, MASC managing partner.

Carrols also operates approximately 320 Burger King franchises in 13 states.