Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken recently celebrated the grand opening of its 17th location in Chapel Hill, North Carolina’s Eastgate Crossing on Saturday, March 19. Located at 1800 E. Franklin St., this Rise storefront offers its smallest footprint to date at just 960 square feet. As part of the grand opening festivities, the Chapel Hill location donated 10 percent of its opening day sales to the Ephesus Elementary School PTA and gave away 100 limited edition Rise shirts designed by local screen printers Laboosh Printing.
In the ‘digital store,’ customers are encouraged to order via the Rise website, the QR code and kiosks in-store, or the newly launched Rise Rewards mobile app, available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Customers then receive a text when the order is ready for pickup from the store’s heated food lockers. The location caters to the popularity of to-go and delivery orders, though there is a small seating area at the end of the sidewalk available to all Eastgate customers.
“This smaller Rise footprint works perfectly with our standard mix of technology and equipment, which includes our Self-ordering Kiosks, Online Ordering, Order Ready Screens, and Heated Food Locker system,” says Ken Priest, chief financial officer of Rise. “Our late founder’s vision has truly been realized through our ability to successfully uphold everything that Rise does well in the smallest amount of square footage.”
The Eastgate Crossing location is the first to open in the Triangle region in over four years. The area’s ninth location features the award-winning, scratch-made buttermilk biscuits, crispy Righteous Chicken and sweet treats Rise is known for, while showcasing efficient digital ordering and contactless pick up via heated food lockers.
Chapel Hill’s grand opening carries forward the momentum that Rise has enjoyed over the past year, which has seen the brand announce deals for new stores in California, Tennessee and Florida.
Named to QSR’s 40/40 List for 2021: America’s Hottest Startup Fast Casuals, Rise partnered with Fransmart, the industry-leading franchise development company behind household brands like Five Guys Burgers & Fries and The Halal Guys, as its exclusive franchising partner to grow the brand.
“Rise has long been at the forefront of technological innovation and is once again putting that on display with its digital store layout,” says Dan Rowe, CEO of Fransmart. “Not to mention, we’re also seeing how the flexibility of this concept allows franchisees to easily convert second-generation spaces.”
Rise is actively looking for experienced multi-unit foodservice operators to develop additional franchises in major markets across the United States.
