Fast-Growing Chicken Salad Chick to Open 53 New Restaurants

America's one and only fast-casual chain that specializes in chicken salad has been growing at a breakneck pace in recent years—and it's planning for yet another aggressive expansion push in 2024.

Chicken Salad Chick, which serves a variety of chicken salads, sandwiches, soups, and sides, has expanded to more than 250 restaurants since it was founded in 2008. The company just announced that it has inked 18 agreements that will see franchisees develop 53 new restaurants over the next several years. The new units will be located throughout states like Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, and Maryland.

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The release also revealed that Chicken Salad Chick is aiming to open 40 new stores by the end of 2024 alone, with some slated to debut in brand-new markets like New Mexico, Maryland, and Virginia's Fairfax County. A Chicken Salad Chick representative confirmed to Eat This, Not That! that the 40 locations it aims to open in 2024 will include some of the 53 franchised restaurants it plans to develop in the coming years. Varying construction timelines may result in the rest of the 53 planned locations opening after 2024.

These new development plans were announced right on the heels of a major year of growth for Chicken Salad Chick. The chain raked in $350 in systemwide sales throughout 2023, 15% more than it saw in 2022. It opened 32 new restaurants in states including Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and Colorado, a new market for the chain.

Additionally, Chicken Salad Chick saw major success with a new specialty sandwich called the Chick Melt, selling more than half a million between its October debut and the end of the year. The chain also bought the Atlanta bakery Piece of Cake and plans to start serving its scratch-made cakes in all of its restaurants.

"Chicken Salad Chick has grown through the years with wonderful franchisees and corporate team members who share our purpose of spreading joy, enriching lives and serving others," CEO Scott Deviney said in a statement. "We accomplished another great year in 2023 with disciplined growth balanced between new and existing markets, and new and existing franchisees. We couldn't be more pleased with our brand's growth, and we look forward to a successful 2024."

Chicken Salad Chick isn't the only chain whose footprint is about to get much, much bigger. PJ's Coffee of New Orleans recently announced plans to open more than 40 new shops in 2024 after dozens of openings in 2023. Wingstop also revealed earlier this month that it anticipates opening a whopping 270 net new restaurants across the globe this year.