Layne's Chicken Fingers is expanding both in and beyond its home state of Texas, looking to have 45 restaurants by year-end as feathers fly in the chicken-chain wars.
Frisco, Texas-based Layne's on Tuesday said it opened nine new restaurants and signed two franchise agreements totaling 10 restaurants in the first quarter. During that period, the franchisor debuted Lone Star State locations in Port Arthur, Mission Bend, Tyler and San Marcos. In addition, the company rolled out its first restaurants in Utah, Georgia, Ohio and Virginia. The new Utah restaurant was opened by an experienced operator who signed a 16-unit agreement, taking the chain from Texas to Utah, according to Layne's.
The "born-and-breaded" chicken finger chain said it's now getting ready to open about 15 more locations before the end of the year, and it aims to welcome 12 more franchisees in 2025. Layne's has a five-unit minimum for new investors.
Layne's growth comes as other eateries specializing in chicken or adding it to their menus enter the fray. Layne's has a much bigger direct competitor in Raising Cane's, another chicken-finger purveyor. And, of course, there are national players such as Chick-fil-A, KFC, Popeyes Louisiana Chicken, Church's Texas Chicken and even McDonald's and Burger King with their chicken sandwiches. KFC is taking on the chicken-finger crowd head-on by testing a Saucy restaurant in Orlando, Florida. It serves tenders with an array of sauces.
"Four years ago, we started with just six restaurants," Layne's Chief Operating Officer Samir Wattar said in a statement. "Our strategic growth has quadrupled the size of the system while producing successful restaurants that continue to break records ... and the progress we've made this quarter affirms that we're doing just that."
Layne's has its eyes on a few key markets — including Virginia, Wisconsin, the Carolinas and North Florida — "which will allow the business to expand in concentric circles around existing locations, capitalizing on existing brand awareness and increasing access for fans of the brand in these communities," according to Wattar.
Founded in 1994 in College Station, the original location became a Texas A&M staple known for its chicken fingers and secret sauce. While opening corporate locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the leadership team focused on fine-tuning its operations and starting to franchise.