Chicken Salad Chick ramping up expansion in 2022
Chicken Salad Chick is on a roll.
The fast-growing, fast-casual chicken salad restaurant brand opened 30 new restaurants in key target markets throughout 2021, resulting in a 17% increase in unit count year-over-year. The openings included market debuts with multiple locations in Indianapolis, Western Virginia and South Florida.
Chicken Salad Chick, which currently operates 200-plus locations in 17 states, plans to open more than 50 new restaurants in 2022. The Midwest is one of the areas being targeted for development.
The company is also expanding Westward. It is set to make its debut in Colorado by the end of the year, having recently signed a franchise agreement for five locations across Northern Colorado. With an open real estate landscape and vast opportunity for market growth, Chicken Salad Chick said it is looking to further expand across Colorado by adding 15 locations during the next five years with franchise partners. The target development markets for the state include Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Grand Junction.
The company reported $255 million in systemwide sales, a 46% increase over 2020. In the second half of the year, Chicken Salad Chick said it outpaced the restaurant industry’s average monthly sales growth by more than 14 percentage points.
“There were challenges in 2021, but our brand grew right past them by expanding our continued focus on the Chick experience. said Scott Deviney, CEO of Chicken Salad Chick. “Whether through in-restaurant dining, takeout, drive-thru, catering or third-party delivery, we brought our flavorful, made-from-scratch favorites to new and existing guests. Our sales and development momentum is setting us up for another strong year of enriching lives and serving others.”
In 2021, Chicken Salad Chick opened its 200th location, in LaGrange, Ga. It also rolled out third-party delivery through UberEats and DoorDash integrated with the brand’s online ordering partner OLO/Rails, which grew to over 7% of total monthly system sales by the end of December 2021.