While Ocala is the largest city in Florida without a Crumbl, Gainesville is the only major college town in Florida without a Crumbl. The closest Crumbl is Oakleaf which is in Jacksonville and over an hour drive away. An Ocala Crumbl would likely get all the business from the University of Florida college students, but there is not a Crumbl in Ocala either. What is interesting about Crumbl locations near college campuses is the Crumbl’s on the main drag of campus do not do very well. The fact that there is little parking and the only customers are college students make Crumbl FSU and Crumbl Chapel Hill (UNC) some of the slower stores in the country. That said, Crumbl College Station (Texas A&M) is about 3 miles from campus and is one of the more popular stores in Texas.
As of mid 2023 there are no major plans for a new Crumbl stores to open in Gainesville. The earliest we will likely see a Crumbl in Gainesville would be October or November of 2023. Most Crumbl franchise partners do not want to have their grand opening in October or November because that is the slowest sales time of the year for Crumbl. This means the earliest you are going to see a Crumbl Gainesville location will likely be January or February 2024 unless the buildout phase has already started. The buildout phase can be anywhere from six months to two (2) years at this point.