Atlanta — Chicken Salad Chick, the nation’s only fast-casual chicken salad restaurant concept, 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. The brand also signed franchise agreements with both new and existing franchisees to develop 32 new restaurants over the next several years in target states. These will be part of the plan to open over 50 new restaurants in 2022.
In addition to this impressive growth, Chicken Salad Chick is reporting $255 million in systemwide sales, a 46% increase over 2020. In the second half of the year alone, the company outpaced the restaurant industry’s average monthly sales growth by more than 14 percentage points.
“The Chicken Salad Chick community — our fans and our dedicated restaurant teams and support center staff — continue to show us year after year how together we are stronger than any adversity we may be facing,” says Scott Deviney, CEO of Chicken Salad Chick. “There were challenges in 2021, but our brand grew right past them by expanding our continued focus on the Chick experience. 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.”
Chicken Salad Chick started strong in 2021 with impressive sales growth across all of its guest access channels with dine-in, takeout, drive-thru, digital ordering and delivery and catering, and the trend continued. Milestones and successes throughout the past year include:
- 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.
- Branded box lunch catering options, which offer individualized portions of chicken salad meals, made up more than 75% of the company’s catering product mix, resulting in a double-digit catering sales increase over 2019.
- Opened the brand’s 200th location in LaGrange, Ga.
Founded in Auburn, Ala., in 2008, Chicken Salad Chick has grown to more than 200 restaurants in 17 states. Today, under the leadership of Scott Deviney and the Chicken Salad Chick team, the brand is continuing its rapid expansion with both franchise and company locations. For more information, visit www.chickensaladchick.com/franchising and www.chickensaladchick.com.
SOURCE: Chicken Salad Chick