Seasoned Franchisees Reinvest in a Proven Brand

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Church’s Chicken^® recently sold 30 new options to current franchisees, who in large part said they reinvested due to their continued business success in a soft U.S. economy. The new development deals were signed in less than one month’s time, after Church’s franchise development team offered current franchisees attractive discounts throughout April, in honor of the brand’s global convention.

“Since Church’s has an aggressive growth strategy driven primarily by franchising, our development team strives to keep labor and building costs to a minimum”

Doug Pendergast, Executive Vice President and Chief Franchise Officer for Church’s, attributed continued franchisee profitability to Church’s “small is beautiful” development philosophy, which focuses on construction programs and restaurant design prototypes that are carefully crafted to minimize cost and maximize efficiency. In fact, according to the August 2007 edition of the Restaurant Research Journal, Church’s “Tower” prototype is an industry leader in lowest labor costs and best cash flow.

“Since Church’s has an aggressive growth strategy driven primarily by franchising, our development team strives to keep labor and building costs to a minimum,” Pendergast said. “The fact that our franchisees are jumping at the opportunity to reinvest, despite current market conditions, is very rewarding.”

According to Mike Kuzminsky, Vice President of Franchise Operations for Church’s, current franchisees also benefit from Church’s re-image program, aimed to refurbish and restore all Church’s domestic restaurants built before 2000.

“Because Church’s is a 56-year old brand, it is crucial for us to remain relevant in this competitive industry by providing a unified image and quality experience to our customers,” Kuzminsky said. “Some Church’s franchisees are experiencing double-digit sales increases as a result of re-imaging their stores.”

When combined with flexible real estate, low-cost construction programs and exceptional development opportunities, current franchisees were eager to take advantage of the incentives that added a layer to Church’s compelling investment opportunity.

ABOUT CHURCH’S

Founded in San Antonio, Texas, in 1952, Church's Chicken® is a highly recognized brand name in the QSR sector and is one of the largest quick-service chicken concepts in the world. Church's Chicken® serves freshly prepared, high quality, flavorful chicken and tenders with signature sides and hand-made from scratch biscuits at low prices and differentiates from its competitors in care and attention given in preparation of food, and is positioned as the Value Leader in the Chicken QSR category. As of April 2008, the Church's system had over 1,600 locations worldwide in 19 countries, with system sales exceeding $1 billion.