Kermond’s Burgers opens new store in Port Fairy in time for Port Fairy Folk Festival

A popular burger store is set to open in a small country town, leading up to one of their busiest weekends. Find out where.

A well-known burger chain will open its third store in a new location in time for one of the area’s most iconic events.

Kermond's Burgers' brand new store in Port Fairy is set to take action, having its grand opening over the Labour Day weekend — just in time for the running of the Port Fairy Folk Festival.

The store also crowned best hamburger of the Reader’s Choice Awards last year.

Part-owner Tim Tanner said it was so nice to see things come together in the form of a new store and was always planning to open a store in Port Fairy.

He said the idea for a Port Fairy store sparked because it’s a “great town, great location and people know and embrace our product” and a “simple fit”.

Kermond's Burgers' new store in Port Fairy will open in time for one of the town's busiest weekends of the year. Picture: Jack Colantuono

“There has been a level of excitement about us opening and speculation about where we were opening — we have been fielding questions for months. It is great to get the doors open,” Mr Tanner said.

“Clearly it is the busiest time of the year for Port Fairy however we are used to being busy — it is easier to cook fast than slow.”

The new store is expected to open on Friday.

“We’re planning on easing into it - the stoves are connected so we shall be cooking.

“However, last time we attempted a quiet opening with the Geelong store and the word got out on socials and we had lines of people so we expect to be busy at the outset,” Mr Tanner said.

Mr Tanner said Port Fairy has been part of expansion plans for a couple of years.

“In the end we simply had to open another store given the Warrnambool store is so busy,” he said,

“We certainly need another ‘satellite’ store to support the flagship in Warrnambool — we have been running over capacity and literally need to take some ‘heat’ from the Warrnambool store.”

Mr Tanner said customers often “surprised” the team with their support and how far they are willing to travel to get a burger and how regularly they will visit one of their stores.

“We have travellers grab a burger in Geelong for lunch and then head straight to Warrnambool for the evening — even I stick to just one a day,” he said.

“We have also drawn on the support of customers, workers and ex-workers — which now spans generations — to help us bring together the Port Fairy store in a short time.”