Chicken Salad Chick expansion on track
Chicken Salad Chick is on a roll.
The fast-casual restaurant chain opened 17 new locations in the first half of 2021, including market debuts in South Florida; Roanoke, Virginia; and Indianapolis, Indiana. Chicken Salad Chick also opened its 200th location this summer, in LaGrange, Georgia. The company has projected 40 openings for 2021.
Additionally, Chicken Salad Chick signed 14 franchise agreements for target markets such as Florida, Texas, Virginia and Indiana. Overall, in the first half of 2021, the brand’s total system sales are up 50% year-over-year.
"In today's competitive market of fast-casual chicken concepts, our brand has continued to differentiate itself with our made-from-scratch food and our hospitable atmosphere that guests are excited to return to," said Scott Deviney, CEO of Chicken Salad Chick. "This year, in addition to our in-restaurant dining, we have leaned into digital ordering, third-party delivery and packaging updates to serve our guests with greater convenience."
[Read More: Chicken Salad Chick relocating headquarters to Atlanta]
Chicken Salad Chick said it has seen strong sales growth this spring and summer across all of its guest access channels with dine-in, takeout, drive-thru, digital ordering and delivery and catering. Additionally, to meet the demand for online ordering, the brand rolled out third-party delivery through UberEats and DoorDash.
Chicken Salad Chick has also experienced renewed sales in catering, which it attributed to its branded box lunch catering options, which offer individualized portions of chicken salad meals. This unique spin on catering now makes up more than 75% of the company's catering product mix, resulting in a double-digit catering sales increase over 2019.
Chicken Salad Chick continues to target states like Virginia, West Virginia, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, in the Southern, Midwest regions for franchise development.