Kansas-based fast-food restaurant Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers is coming back to Greenville.
The expansion is led by Denver Broncos offensive guard and Wichita native Ben Powers, in collaboration with GVL Hospitality and business partners Brett Rickert and Brian Stevens. Stevens introduced Rickert and Powers, though all three went to the same high school in Kansas. Stevens and Powers were next-door neighbors.
The group has acquired the rights to the Greenville market from Freddy’s.
The development agreement with Freddy’s corporate begins in 2026, with a plan to open 10 stores open by 2031. The team wants to expand along Interstate 385, Woodruff Road and Pelham Road, as well as around Haywood Mall, Duncan, Mauldin, Greer, Simpsonville and WO Ezell Boulevard near Spartanburg.
Rickert worked for Freddy’s corporate office years ago before moving to South Carolina to franchise the frozen custard and burger brand in the Midlands.
“I was trying to find a kind of big small-town-feeling cities,” Rickert said. “We landed on Columbia first, but always had interest in getting into Greenville, so we finally did.”
There was previously a Freddy’s on Woodruff Road in Greenville that opened in 2015 but ultimately closed.
“Some of those stores that were there and closed weren’t run the greatest. So we’re here to change that,” Rickert said.
There is currently just one Freddy’s location operating in the Upstate, at 4845 Calhoun Memorial Highway in Easley.
