Chicken Salad Chick announced the signing of franchise agreements that will bring nearly 20 new restaurants to Texas over the next five years. The brand has signed two major deals over the past year in Texas— one for eight units in San Antonio in October 2021 and most recently one for 8-units in Austin. Texas continues to prove itself as a prime area for expansion as Chicken Salad Chick builds on the success of its 21 existing locations across Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston. The brand plans to open five new locations in Texas this year, which add to its goal to open 50 locations across the country by the end of 2022.
Behind the Austin agreement is duo Austin Young and Sara Ingram. Restaurant and franchise veterans, Young and Ingram are the current owners of Chicken Salad Chick – Waco and two of the youngest franchisees on the Chicken Salad Chick roster. The pair also has two restaurants in development in Temple and Killeen. Eager to further expand their multi-unit portfolio, Young and Ingram plan to open the eight units in Austin over the next three years.
“Austin is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, and we’re very excited to introduce the brand to such a booming market,” says Austin Young. “As a young business owner, Chicken Salad Chick has been so welcoming and supportive – with great core values in both operations and customer services on top of its quality menu offerings. This eight-unit deal was a natural next step in our career with the brand because we get to be on the ground floor of a fast-growing, fan-favorite concept.”
San Antonio development is fueled by OberRoc LLC, a franchise company formed by San Antonio natives James Oberg, Jeff Rochelle and George Shaw with the goal of growing innovative restaurant concepts in the Greater San Antonio area. The eight locations will span across San Antonio, including Bexar, Kendall, Comal and Hayes Counties, and development is well underway with the first location slated to open by the end of this year located at 22831 N US Hwy 281, Suite 116 in San Antonio and the second to open by Q2 2023.
Additional development is expected for the Dallas-Fort Worth area with established Chicken Salad Chick franchise groups Hazel 5 Ventures, LLC and Metroplex CSC, LLC. Hazel 5 Ventures, LLC currently owns six locations in the Fort Worth area and plans to add five more locations to Greater Dallas over the next three years. They recently acquired the rights to develop Murphy, Rockwall, and Forney are expecting to open two new locations in Southlake and Weatherford by the beginning of 2023. Metroplex CSC, LLC currently owns three locations in the Dallas area with plans to add 12 more in the next five years and are expected to open a new location in Frisco by the end of 2022.
“As our brand awareness and guest loyalty continue to increase, we are seeing a demand in franchise opportunities throughout the state,” adds Scott Deviney, CEO of Chicken Salad Chick. “It is exciting to see Chicken Salad Chick’s southern expansion in action. We’re more than humbled to support our franchisees as they continue to thrive in markets across Texas, and look forward to seeing how communities across the state respond to the product.”
Most recently, Chicken Salad Chick celebrated its opening in Lake Jackson on June 15th. Within the next 24 months, Chicken Salad Chick plans to open additional locations across Amarillo, Frisco, Houston, Missouri City, San Antonio, Temple, Tyler and Weatherford.
With an open real estate landscape and vast opportunity for market growth, Chicken Salad Chick is looking to further expand across Texas by adding 50-plus locations over the next five years with strategic franchise partners. Target development markets for the state include Abilene, Beaumont, Corpus Christi, Longview, Lubbock, Midland, Odessa, San Angelo, Sherman and Wichita Falls.
Chicken Salad Chick is on track to open more than 40 locations in 2022 which will help propel it toward achieving its overall development goal to have 500 locations open and operating by the end of 2025.
