Church’s Texas Chicken Opens New Doors

With units in new markets and a compact design in the works, the 1,500-unit brand is making moves.

February 23, 2024

Church's Texas Chicken is working to refine a compact design that will offer multiple access points for customers. Image courtesy of Church's Texas Chicken.

Later this year, Church’s Texas Chicken will launch a compact, 1,000-square-foot prototype that it says may help it enter new areas.

The design—which is up to 700 square feet smaller than some existing stores—will include state-of-the art equipment focused on higher efficiency/throughput, plus multiple guest queues and drive-thrus, says Frank Costello, VP of U.S. development for the brand. “The new design serves the future of dining because people are looking at more and more pickup, drive-thru and third-party delivery in reference to a very mobile society,” Costello told FER.

Costello says the brand is working on developing the compact design in multiple areas of the domestic U.S. as well working with select franchisees who are developing it. More details on the location(s) or timeline were not immediately available.

Big-picture, some additional brand highlights include the following:

Units in new markets including Bremerton, Wash., Bryant, Ark. and Tulsa, Okla.
A projected 50% growth in the brand’s international footprint over the next five years, with multiple deals signed in Asia, the Caribbean and Middle East in 2023
A “threefold increase” in the number of domestic new deal signings, as compared to the previous year
Continued adoption of the chain’s Blaze concept—featuring contemporary aesthetic updates emphasizing the chain’s Texas roots—for 200-plus remodels by the end of 2024

Currently, Church’s Texas Chicken and its sister brand Texas Chicken have over 1,500 locations in 23 countries.