{ "generated": "2026-09-02T20:25:49.151Z", "notice": "Every figure carries a source id resolvable against the sources object. Where a value is absent it has not been published; CSW does not estimate.", "sources": { "1851-franchise-franchise-deep-dive-golden-chick--adf636": { "pub": "1851 Franchise", "title": "Franchise Deep Dive: Golden Chick's Franchise Costs, Fees, Profit and Data", "url": "https://1851franchise.com/franchise-deep-dive-golden-chicks-franchise-costs-fees-profit-and-data-2721347", "date": "2023 FDD" }, "1851-franchise-guide-to-the-pollo-campero-franch-5d8cc4": { "pub": "1851 Franchise", "title": "Guide to the Pollo Campero Franchise Disclosure Document", "url": "https://1851franchise.com/pollocampero/pollo-campero-franchise-disclosure-document-2727640", "date": "2024 FDD" }, "1851-franchise-how-to-read-layne-s-chicken-finge-40a4db": { "pub": "1851 Franchise", "title": "How to Read Layne's Chicken Fingers' 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document", "url": "https://1851franchise.com/layneschickenfingers/2026-fdd-2732305", "date": "2026 FDD" }, "boulder-canes": { "pub": "The Boulder Group", "title": "Net Lease Raising Cane's Property Profile and Cap Rates", "url": "https://www.bouldergroup.com/blog/net-lease-raising-canes/", "date": "2026" }, "boulder-q2-2026": { "pub": "The Boulder Group", "title": "Single Tenant Net Lease Report — Q2 2026", "url": "https://www.bouldergroup.com/blog/single-tenant-net-lease-report-for-q2-2026/", "date": "2026-07" }, "boulder-tenant-q1-2026": { "pub": "The Boulder Group", "title": "Q1 2026 Net Lease Tenant Profiles Report", "url": "https://www.bouldergroup.com/media/pdf/NetLeaseProfile26Q1.pdf", "date": "2026-03" }, "boulder-zaxbys": { "pub": "The Boulder Group", "title": "Net Lease Zaxby's Property Profile and Cap Rates", "url": "https://www.bouldergroup.com/blog/net-lease-zaxbys/", "date": "2026" }, "bullrealty-zaxbys": { "pub": "Bull Realty", "title": "Zaxby's NNN Lease Investment Opportunity — Midwest City, OK", "url": "https://www.bullrealty.com/properties/sale/1458190?propertyId=1458190-sale", "date": "2026" }, "chattanoogan-cfa": { "pub": "Chattanoogan.com", "title": "New Construction Hixson Chick-fil-A Ground Lease Is At Record Tennessee Cap Rate", "url": "https://www.chattanoogan.com/2026/7/13/520868/New-Construction-Hixson-ChickfilA.aspx", "date": "2026-07-13" }, "chowhound-newsandwiches": { "pub": "Chowhound", "title": "The 11 Best New Fast Food Chicken Sandwiches Of 2026 So Far", "url": "https://www.chowhound.com/2211182/best-new-fast-food-chicken-sandwiches-2026/", "date": "2026" }, "citybiz-cfa-hixson": { "pub": "citybiz", "title": "RealSource Group Represents Buyer of New Construction Chick-fil-A Ground Lease at Record-Low Cap Rate", "url": "https://www.citybiz.co/article/873347/realsource-group-represents-buyer-of-new-construction-chick-fil-a-ground-lease-at-record-low-cap-rate/", "date": "2026-07" }, "cnbc-ampex": { "pub": "CNBC", "title": "Yum Brands franchisee Ampex Brands buys Au Bon Pain", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/30/yum-brands-franchisee-ampex-brands-buys-au-bon-pain-.html", "date": "2021" }, "cnbc-daves-roark": { "pub": "CNBC", "title": "Private equity firm Roark Capital invests in fast-growing restaurant chain Dave's Hot Chicken", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/02/roark-capital-daves-hot-chicken.html", "date": "2025-06-02" }, "cnbc-kfc-menu": { "pub": "CNBC", "title": "KFC leans into boneless chicken, new drinks as chain tries to regain market share", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/15/kfc-menu-chicken.html", "date": "2026-06-15" }, "cnbc-rbi-q4-2025": { "pub": "CNBC", "title": "Restaurant Brands International (QSR) Q4 2025 earnings", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/12/restaurant-brands-international-qsr-q4-2025-earnings.html", "date": "2026-02-12" }, "co-zaxbys-nyc": { "pub": "Commercial Observer", "title": "Chicken Shop Chain Zaxby's to Open First NYC Location", "url": "https://commercialobserver.com/2026/02/chicken-chain-zaxbys-lease-first-nyc-location-1267-first-avenue/", "date": "2026-02" }, "connectcre-canes-gl": { "pub": "Connect CRE", "title": "SRS, JLL Arrange Raising Cane's Ground Lease Deal", "url": "https://www.connectcre.com/stories/srs-jll-arrange-raising-canes-ground-lease-deal/", "date": "2025" }, "cstore-krispy": { "pub": "C-Store Dive", "title": "Krispy Krunchy Chicken expands beyond c-stores, targets 700 openings", "url": "https://www.cstoredive.com/news/krispy-krunchy-chicken-to-exceed-3500-stores-2024/712655/", "date": "2024" }, "eatthis-bonchon": { "pub": "Eat This, Not That!", "title": "Booming Chicken Chain Believes It Can Reach 1,000 Stores In the Next 5 Years", "url": "https://www.eatthis.com/bonchon-chicken-expansion-plans/", "date": "2025" }, "el-pollo-loco-holdings-inc-form-8-k-exhibit-99-1-693af8": { "pub": "El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.", "title": "Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1 — El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001606366/000160636626000044/loco-20260806xex99.htm", "date": "2026-08-06" }, "entrepreneur-korpal": { "pub": "Entrepreneur", "title": "Their Parents Owned 22 Subway Franchises. Now These Brothers Are Building a Golden Chick Empire.", "url": "https://www.entrepreneur.com/buying-a-franchise/these-brothers-are-using-parents-playbook-to-build-a-golden-chick-empire", "date": "2026" }, "fb101-laynes-2026": { "pub": "FB101", "title": "Layne's Chicken Fingers Hits 50 Units and 24 New Franchise Deals in 2026", "url": "https://www.fb101.com/laynes-chicken-fingers-50-units-24-franchise-agreements-2026-302830417", "date": "2026" }, "fcpt-10q-q2-2026": { "pub": "SEC EDGAR", "title": "Four Corners Property Trust Form 10-Q (Q2 2026)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001650132/000119312526326216/fcpt-20260630.htm", "date": "2026-06-30" }, "franchising-farwest-1500": { "pub": "Franchising.com", "title": "Longtime Wingstop Operator's Latest Opening Marks The Brand's 1,500th Location", "url": "https://www.franchising.com/articles/longtime_wingstop_operators_latest_opening_marks_the_brands_1500th_location.html", "date": "2024" }, "franchising-kbp": { "pub": "Franchising.com", "title": "The $1 Billion Man: KBP Brands tops 1,000-plus locations", "url": "https://www.franchising.com/articles/20250906_the_1_billion_man_kbp_brands_tops_1000plus_locations.html", "date": "2025-09" }, "franchising-mb50-2026": { "pub": "Franchising.com", "title": "2026 Multi-Brand 50: Scale Evolves into Strategy", "url": "https://www.franchising.com/articles/20260606_2026_multibrand_50_scale_evolves_into_strategy.html", "date": "2026-06" }, "ft-church-2025": { "pub": "Franchise Times", "title": "Church's Chicken Goes Back to Basics to Drive Double-Digit Sales Growth", "url": "https://www.franchisetimes.com/top-400-2025/exclusive-research/church-s-chicken-goes-back-to-basics-to-drive-double-digit-sales-growth/article_f3fb4f7e-80ef-48bf-ab81-ec8e0fbd60c4.html", "date": "2026" }, "ft-golden-sxthree": { "pub": "Franchise Times", "title": "Franchisee SXThree Fuels Golden Chick Expansion", "url": "https://www.franchisetimes.com/franchise_news/franchisee-sxthree-fuels-golden-chick-expansion/article_861590b2-5ffd-11ef-a288-0f805483834d.html", "date": "2024" }, "ft-kbp-28": { "pub": "Franchise Times", "title": "KBP Adds 28 KFCs to 600-plus Unit Portfolio, Plus More Bold Deals", "url": "https://www.franchisetimes.com/franchise_mergers_and_acquisitions/kbp-adds-28-kfcs-to-600-plus-unit-portfolio-plus-more-bold-deals/article_82a8d56c-58df-11ef-a163-d7cdf0ddd226.html", "date": "2024" }, "ft-korpal": { "pub": "Franchise Times", "title": "Subway Franchisees Expand Portfolio With Golden Chick Deal", "url": "https://www.franchisetimes.com/franchise_news/subway-franchisees-expand-portfolio-with-golden-chick-deal/article_94d0e969-1cca-49ef-85db-24adbe17f4c6.html", "date": "2026" }, "ft-top400-chicken": { "pub": "Franchise Times", "title": "Demand for Chicken Continues, Top 400 Data Shows", "url": "https://www.franchisetimes.com/franchise_news/demand-for-chicken-continues-top-400-data-shows/article_40963466-97d1-4d46-aa2c-36dbc6419357.html", "date": "2025" }, "ft-zaxbys-28b": { "pub": "Franchise Times", "title": "Zaxbys Expands Franchise Reach With Sights Set on $2.8B System Sales", "url": "https://www.franchisetimes.com/franchise_news/zaxbys-expands-franchise-reach-with-sights-set-on-2-8b-system-sales/article_61f1eb88-bdfb-4797-9576-ddd59891ccba.html", "date": "2025" }, "ifa-convention": { "pub": "International Franchise Association", "title": "IFA Annual Convention", "url": "https://www.franchise.org/annual-convention/", "date": "2027" }, "ifa-daves-eight": { "pub": "International Franchise Association", "title": "Dave's Hot Chicken Opens Record Eight Restaurants in a Single Day", "url": "https://www.franchise.org/2026/04/daves-hot-chicken-opens-record-eight-restaurants-in-a-single-day/", "date": "2026-04" }, "ifa-zaxbys-1000": { "pub": "International Franchise Association", "title": "Zaxbys Surpasses 1,000 Locations as Brand Transformation Fuels Momentum Into 2026", "url": "https://www.franchise.org/2026/02/zaxbys-surpasses-1000-locations-as-brand-transformation-fuels-momentum-into-2026/", "date": "2026-02" }, "loco-10k-2025": { "pub": "SEC EDGAR", "title": "El Pollo Loco Holdings Form 10-K (FY2025)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1606366/000160636626000017/loco-20251231x10k.htm", "date": "2026" }, "loco-q4-2025": { "pub": "El Pollo Loco Holdings", "title": "Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2025 Financial Results", "url": "https://investor.elpolloloco.com/news-releases/news-release-details/el-pollo-loco-holdings-inc-announces-fourth-quarter-2025", "date": "2026-03-12" }, "mba-boulder-q2": { "pub": "MBA NewsLink", "title": "Single-Tenant Net Lease Cap Rates Rise, Boulder Group Reports", "url": "https://newslink.mba.org/mba-newslinks/2026/july/single-tenant-net-lease-cap-rates-rise-boulder-group-reports/", "date": "2026-07" }, "nrn-canes-openings": { "pub": "Nation's Restaurant News", "title": "Raising Cane's has accelerated restaurant openings this year", "url": "https://www.nrn.com/fast-casual/raising-cane-s-has-accelerated-restaurant-openings-this-year", "date": "2026" }, "nrn-chicken-auv": { "pub": "Nation's Restaurant News / Technomic", "title": "Here are the chicken chains with the highest average unit volumes", "url": "https://www.nrn.com/top-500-restaurants/here-are-the-chicken-chains-with-the-highest-average-unit-volumes", "date": "2026" }, "nrn-houstontx": { "pub": "Nation's Restaurant News", "title": "Houston TX Hot Chicken races to the top of the hot chicken market", "url": "https://www.nrn.com/emerging-chains/houston-tx-hot-chicken-races-to-the-top-of-the-hot-chicken-market", "date": "2026" }, "nrn-kbp-24": { "pub": "Nation's Restaurant News", "title": "KBP acquires 24 KFC units", "url": "https://www.nrn.com/restaurant-franchising/kbp-acquires-24-kfc-units", "date": "2025" }, "nrn-kfc-hq": { "pub": "Nation's Restaurant News", "title": "KFC U.S. headquarters are relocating from Kentucky to Texas", "url": "https://www.nrn.com/quick-service/kfc-u-s-headquarters-are-relocating-from-kentucky-to-texas", "date": "2025" }, "nrn-sailormen": { "pub": "Nation's Restaurant News", "title": "Bankrupt Popeyes franchisee is selling most of its restaurants", "url": "https://www.nrn.com/quick-service/bankrupt-popeyes-franchisee-is-selling-most-of-its-restaurants", "date": "2026" }, "nrn-zaxbys-ops": { "pub": "Nation's Restaurant News", "title": "Zaxbys' focus on operational standards has driven sales and traffic growth", "url": "https://www.nrn.com/fast-casual/zaxby-s-focus-on-operational-standards-has-driven-sales-and-traffic-growth", "date": "2026" }, "placer-chicken": { "pub": "Placer.ai", "title": "Chicken Chains Charge Ahead", "url": "https://www.placer.ai/anchor/articles/chicken-chains-charge-ahead-in-2025", "date": "2026" }, "pr-laynes-2025": { "pub": "PR Newswire", "title": "Layne's Chicken Fingers Doubles Footprint, Welcomes 10 New Franchisees in 2025", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/laynes-chicken-fingers-doubles-footprint-welcomes-10-new-franchisees-to-the-system-in-2025-as-it-ramps-up-for-another-record-breaking-year-302669604.html", "date": "2026-01-26" }, "qsr-boj-franchisee": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "Bojangles' Largest Franchisee Bought by Investment Firm", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/bojangles-largest-franchisee-bought-by-investment-firm/", "date": "2025" }, "qsr-bojangles-portability": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "Bojangles Proves Portability as New Markets Fuel Record Growth", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/bojangles-proves-portability-as-new-markets-fuel-record-growth/", "date": "2026" }, "qsr-canes-london": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "Raising Cane's to Open London Flagship as it Journeys Toward 1,600 Restaurants Globally", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/raising-canes-to-open-london-flagship-as-it-journeys-toward-1600-restaurants-globally/", "date": "2026" }, "qsr-cfa-24b": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "Chick-fil-A Dials Up Expansion as Sales Near $24 Billion", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/chick-fil-a-dials-up-expansion-as-sales-near-24-billion/", "date": "2026" }, "qsr-church-growth": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "Church's Chicken Readies for Next Growth Phase with 'Significant' Investment", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/churchs-chicken-readies-for-next-growth-phase-with-significant-investment/", "date": "2026" }, "qsr-csc-record": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "Chicken Salad Chick Finds Record Growth in a Category of One", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/chicken-salad-chick-finds-record-growth-in-a-category-of-one/", "date": "2026" }, "qsr-golden-250": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "Golden Chick Opens 250th Restaurant", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/golden-chick-opens-250th-restaurant/", "date": "2026" }, "qsr-golden-sxthree": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "Golden Chick Honors Franchisee SXThree with Milestone Award", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/golden-chick-honors-franchisee-sxthree-with-milestone-award/", "date": "2025" }, "qsr-popeyes-president": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "For Popeyes, the Problem was Simple. A New President Sets Out to Solve It", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/for-popeyes-the-problem-was-simple-a-new-president-sets-out-to-solve-it/", "date": "2026" }, "qsr-sailormen-97": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "One of Popeyes' Largest Franchisees Sells 97 Restaurants out of Bankruptcy", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/one-of-popeyes-largest-franchisees-sells-97-restaurants-out-of-bankruptcy/", "date": "2026" }, "qsr-slim-2026": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "Slim Chickens Sharpens its Domestic Growth Playbook for 2026", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/sponsored_content/slim-chickens-sharpens-its-domestic-growth-playbook-for-2026/", "date": "2026" }, "qsr-slim-900": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "Slim Chickens Has Over 900 Units on the Way—and Counting", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/sponsored_content/slim-chickens-has-over-900-units-way-and-counting/", "date": "2025" }, "qsr-slim-dev": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "How a Former Starbucks Exec Plans to Take Slim Chickens' Development Prospects to New Heights", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/how-a-former-starbucks-exec-plans-to-take-slim-chickens-development-prospects-to-new-heights/", "date": "2026" }, "qsr-wingstop-fastest": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "Wingstop Was the Fastest-Growing Restaurant in America Last Year", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/wingstop-was-the-fastest-growing-restaurant-in-america-last-year/", "date": "2026" }, "qsr50-2025-chicken": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "QSR 50 2025: Top Fast-Food Chicken Chains, Ranked by Sales", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/qsr-50-2025-top-fast-food-chicken-chains-ranked-by-sales/", "date": "2025" }, "qsr50-2026-chicken": { "pub": "QSR Magazine", "title": "QSR 50 2026: Top Fast-Food Chicken Chains, Ranked by Sales", "url": "https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/qsr-50-2026-top-fast-food-chicken-chains-ranked-by-sales/", "date": "2026" }, "qsrweb-popeyes-sc": { "pub": "QSRweb", "title": "$1.6M paid for high-traffic South Carolina Popeyes property", "url": "https://www.qsrweb.com/news/16m-paid-for-high-traffic-south-carolina-popeyes-property/", "date": "2023" }, "rb-top500-2026": { "pub": "Restaurant Business / Technomic", "title": "The Technomic Top 500 2026", "url": "https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/top-500-2026-ranking", "date": "2026" }, "rbi-10k-2025": { "pub": "SEC EDGAR", "title": "Restaurant Brands International Form 10-K (FY2025)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1618756/000161875626000017/qsr-20251231.htm", "date": "2026" }, "rbi-fy25": { "pub": "Restaurant Brands International", "title": "Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results", "url": "https://www.rbi.com/English/news/news-details/2026/Restaurant-Brands-International-Inc--Reports-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2025-Results/default.aspx", "date": "2026-02-12" }, "rbi-q2-2026": { "pub": "SEC EDGAR", "title": "Restaurant Brands International Form 8-K — Q2 2026 results", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001618756/000161875626000041/qsr_2026630xpressrelease.htm", "date": "2026-08" }, "rbo-cfa-ceiling": { "pub": "Restaurant Business", "title": "Chick-fil-A's unit volumes hit a ceiling", "url": "https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/chick-fil-unit-volumes-hit-ceiling", "date": "2026" }, "rbo-chicken-slows": { "pub": "Restaurant Business / Technomic", "title": "Chicken chains' sales growth slows for the second straight year", "url": "https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/chicken-chains-sales-growth-slows-second-straight-year", "date": "2026" }, "rbo-cs-wars-history": { "pub": "Restaurant Business", "title": "A brief history of the chicken sandwich wars", "url": "https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/food/brief-history-chicken-sandwich-wars", "date": "2024" }, "rbo-farwest": { "pub": "Restaurant Business", "title": "Wingstop franchise group Far West Services wins growth investment", "url": "https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/wingstop-franchise-group-far-west-services-wins-growth-investment", "date": "2023" }, "rbo-guernsey-zaxbys": { "pub": "Restaurant Business", "title": "Guernsey Holdings buys 20 Zaxby's restaurants", "url": "https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/guernsey-holdings-buys-20-zaxbys-restaurants", "date": "2025" }, "rbo-kfc-turnaround": { "pub": "Restaurant Business", "title": "Yum Brands puts its faith in KFC's U.S. turnaround", "url": "https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/yum-brands-puts-its-faith-kfcs-us-turnaround", "date": "2026" }, "rbo-popeyes-slump": { "pub": "Restaurant Business", "title": "Popeyes is 'moving quickly' to address sales slump", "url": "https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/operations/popeyes-moving-quickly-address-sales-slump", "date": "2026" }, "rbo-roark-daves": { "pub": "Restaurant Business", "title": "Roark Capital acquires Dave's Hot Chicken for $1B and eyes international growth", "url": "https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/roark-capital-acquires-daves-hot-chicken-1b-eyes-international-growth", "date": "2025-06" }, "rbo-sailormen-bk": { "pub": "Restaurant Business", "title": "A big Popeyes franchisee files for bankruptcy", "url": "https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/big-popeyes-franchisee-files-bankruptcy", "date": "2026-01" }, "rd-auv-leaders": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "The Cheesecake Factory, Chick-fil-A lead AUVs among major restaurant chains (Circana)", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/the-cheesecake-factory-chick-fil-a-leads-auvs-among-major-restaurant-chain/816023/", "date": "2026" }, "rd-bk-popeyes-q2": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "Burger King sales surge, but Popeyes faces uphill battle", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/burger-king-sales-success-popeyes-brand-turnaround-continues/827199/", "date": "2026-08" }, "rd-campero": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "How Pollo Campero plans to grow from 90 US units to 250 in 5 years", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/Pollo-Campero-to-grow-from-90-US-units-to-250-5-years/689879/", "date": "2024" }, "rd-canes-london": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "Raising Cane's heads to the UK", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/raising-canes-chicken-fingers-london-piccadilly-first-uk/759229/", "date": "2025" }, "rd-church-china": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "Church's Texas Chicken plots 600-unit expansion in China", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/churchs-texas-chicken-china-600-units-deke-shengtang/817292/", "date": "2026" }, "rd-csc-300": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "Chicken Salad Chick hits 300 restaurants", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/chicken-salad-chick-300th-store-2025-growth/749212/", "date": "2025-05" }, "rd-eyas-boj": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "Bojangles' largest franchisee acquired by PE firm", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/eyas-capital-buys-bojangles-largest-franchisee-portfolio/760766/", "date": "2025" }, "rd-hooters": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "Hooters of America closes dozens more restaurants", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/hooters-america-closes-additional-restaurants-restructuring-chapter-11/749920/", "date": "2025-06" }, "rd-huey": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "Huey Magoo's cuts drive-thru build costs by 40%", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/huey-magoos-chicken-tender-franchise-drive-thru-prototype/819176/", "date": "2026" }, "rd-krispy-2025": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "Krispy Krunchy Chicken outlines 2025 growth plans", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/krispy-krunchy-chicken-expansion-plans-2025/738347/", "date": "2025" }, "rd-laynes-national": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "Layne's Chicken Fingers thinks it has what it takes to go national", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/laynes-chicken-fingers-4000-store-goal/813570/", "date": "2026" }, "rd-ma-2025": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "Top M&A restaurant deals of 2025", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/top-mergers-acquisitions-restaraurant-2026/807212/", "date": "2026" }, "rd-perdue": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "RBI appoints new Popeyes US president, Burger King US COO", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/popeyes-hires-us-president-peter-perdue-burger-king-us-coo-nicolas-henrich/804717/", "date": "2026" }, "rd-zaxbys-nyc": { "pub": "Restaurant Dive", "title": "Zaxbys debuts in New York", "url": "https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/zaxbys-new-york-city-debut-franchising-expansion/825090/", "date": "2026-07" }, "rfdc-2026": { "pub": "Restaurant Finance Monitor", "title": "Restaurant Finance & Development Conference", "url": "https://www.restfinance.com/rfdc/", "date": "2026" }, "rfis-2027": { "pub": "Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit", "title": "Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit, March 8-10, 2027, New Orleans", "url": "https://franchisinginnovation.com/", "date": "2027-03" }, "rlc": { "pub": "Informa Connect", "title": "Restaurant Leadership Conference", "url": "https://informaconnect.com/restaurant-leadership-conference/", "date": "2027" }, "rn-houstontx": { "pub": "RestaurantNews.com", "title": "Houston TX Hot Chicken Accelerates Nationwide Expansion With 26 New Franchise Commitments", "url": "https://www.restaurantnews.com/houston-tx-hot-chicken-franchise-expansion-26-new-locations-012026/", "date": "2026-01" }, "rn-houstontx-uk": { "pub": "RestaurantNews.com", "title": "Houston TX Hot Chicken Takes Its Heat Global With UK Debut", "url": "https://www.restaurantnews.com/houston-tx-hot-chicken-uk-debut-global-expansion-062426/", "date": "2026-06-24" }, "roadtour-top5": { "pub": "RoadTour", "title": "The Top 5 Fast Food Chicken Sandwiches in the U.S. (2026)", "url": "https://www.roadtour.net/post/the-top-5-fast-food-chicken-sandwiches-in-the-u-s-2026", "date": "2026" }, "sixthstreet-farwest": { "pub": "Sixth Street", "title": "Brentwood Associates and Sixth Street Make Significant Growth Investment in Far West Services, a Wingstop Franchisee", "url": "https://sixthstreet.com/investment_announce/brentwood-associates-and-sixth-street-make-significant-growth-investment-in-far-west-services-a-wingstop-franchisee/", "date": "2023-11" }, "southernag-prices": { "pub": "Southern Ag Today", "title": "Chicken Production Up and Prices Down", "url": "https://southernagtoday.org/2026/01/06/chicken-production-up-and-prices-down/", "date": "2026-01-06" }, "stacker-yougov": { "pub": "Stacker / YouGov", "title": "10 major fried chicken chains in the US, ranked by popularity", "url": "https://stacker.com/stories/food-drink/10-major-fried-chicken-chains-us-ranked-popularity", "date": "2026" }, "tastingtable-2026": { "pub": "Tasting Table", "title": "My Pick For The Best New Fast Food Chicken Sandwich Of 2026 So Far", "url": "https://www.tastingtable.com/2223774/best-new-fast-food-chicken-sandwich-2026-so-far/", "date": "2026" }, "thestreet-jollibee": { "pub": "TheStreet", "title": "Fast-growing chicken chain closes 207 restaurants, cuts expansion", "url": "https://www.thestreet.com/restaurants/jollibee-closes-restaurants-cuts-expansion", "date": "2026" }, "thestreet-kfc-207": { "pub": "TheStreet", "title": "KFC closes 207 U.S. restaurants in 15 months, filings confirm", "url": "https://www.thestreet.com/restaurants/kfc-shuts-207-u-s-restaurants", "date": "2026" }, "thestreet-kfc-300": { "pub": "TheStreet", "title": "Classic fried chicken chain closes over 300 restaurants", "url": "https://www.thestreet.com/restaurants/kfc-chain-closes-over-300-restaurants", "date": "2026-07" }, "thestreet-sailormen": { "pub": "TheStreet", "title": "Major fried chicken franchisee closes stores in Chapter 11 bankruptcy", "url": "https://www.thestreet.com/restaurants/popeyes-franchisee-sailormen-shuts-stores-in-bankruptcy-filing", "date": "2026" }, "topnetlease-popeyes": { "pub": "TopNetLease", "title": "Popeyes Net Lease Properties For Sale — market pricing", "url": "https://www.topnetlease.com/brands/popeyes", "date": "2026" }, "u-s-securities-and-exchange-commission-el-pollo--ac2b8d": { "pub": "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission", "title": "El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. — Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended July 1, 2026", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1606366/000160636626000047/loco-20260701x10q.htm", "date": "2026-08-07" }, "usda-ers-percapita": { "pub": "USDA Economic Research Service", "title": "Per capita availability of red meat and poultry projected higher in 2025 and 2026", "url": "http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/charts-of-note/chart-detail?chartId=113119", "date": "2026" }, "wattagnet-cfa-intl": { "pub": "WATTPoultry", "title": "Chick-fil-A plans expansion into Europe, Asia by 2026", "url": "https://www.wattagnet.com/poultry-future/consumer-trends/article/15537626/chick-fil-a-plans-expansion-into-europe-asia-by-2026", "date": "2025" }, "wing-10k-2025": { "pub": "SEC EDGAR", "title": "Wingstop Inc. Form 10-K (FY2025, period ending 2025-12-27)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1636222/000163622226000008/wing-20251227.htm", "date": "2026" }, "wing-fy25": { "pub": "Wingstop Inc.", "title": "Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results", "url": "https://ir.wingstop.com/wingstop-inc-reports-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-year-2025-financial-results/", "date": "2026-02-18" }, "wing-q2-2026": { "pub": "Wingstop Inc. / PR Newswire", "title": "Wingstop Inc. Reports Fiscal Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wingstop-inc-reports-fiscal-second-quarter-financial-results-302837241.html", "date": "2026-07-29" }, "yum-10k-2025": { "pub": "SEC EDGAR", "title": "Yum! Brands Form 10-K (FY2025)", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1041061/000104106126000084/yum-20251231.htm", "date": "2026" } }, "brands": [ { "slug": "chick-fil-a", "name": "Chick-fil-A", "tags": [ "chicken sandwich", "national", "franchised", "growing" ], "hq": "Atlanta, GA", "founded": 1967, "parent": "Chick-fil-A, Inc. (private, family-controlled)", "ownership": "Private", "franchiseModel": "Single-unit operator model. Operators are selected, pay a $10K franchise fee, do not build multi-unit portfolios, and split profits with the franchisor.", "stats": { "systemwideSales": { "v": 23918208000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "qsr50-2026-chicken", "note": "+5.2% YoY" }, "usUnits": { "v": 2863, "asOf": "YE2025", "src": "qsr50-2026-chicken", "note": "Franchised + company-operated outlets; plus 435 licensed venues" }, "auv": { "v": 9161000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "qsr50-2026-chicken", "note": "Average for domestic freestanding / drive-thru-only comp stores; median $9.087M" }, "unitChange": { "v": 179, "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "qsr50-2026-chicken", "note": "Net new franchised and company-operated units" }, "blendedAuv": { "v": 7200000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "rd-auv-leaders", "note": "Circana blended AUV including licensed locations — 3rd-highest of 50 major brands" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": 6.7, "unitGrowthDerived": true, "salesGrowthPct": 5.2, "auvUsd": 9161000, "capRateMid": 4.35, "netClosures": false, "capRateBasis": "brand-specific asking range (Boulder Group)" }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "YE2025", "src": "qsr50-2026-chicken", "derived": true }, "salesGrowthPct": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "qsr50-2026-chicken" }, "auvUsd": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "qsr50-2026-chicken" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "boulder-tenant-q1-2026" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "4.20%–4.50% asking on 15-year ground leases; ~4.45% asking in Q2 2026", "capSrc": [ "boulder-tenant-q1-2026", "boulder-q2-2026" ], "notes": "The tightest-priced tenant in the QSR net-lease universe alongside McDonald's. Typical structure is a 20-year corporate absolute-NNN ground lease with 10% escalations every five years and multiple five-year options. Recent prototypes run roughly 5,000–6,000 SF on 1.5–2.0 acres, increasingly with dual drive-thru lanes.", "notesSrc": [ "citybiz-cfa-hixson", "chattanoogan-cfa" ] }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "100+ new U.S. restaurants expected in 2026", "src": "qsr-cfa-24b" }, { "text": "$1B international commitment; UK launched 2025 (5 restaurants planned in first two years, $100M over 10 years), Singapore entry with $75M over 10 years, five international markets targeted by 2030", "src": "wattagnet-cfa-intl" } ], "momentum": "leader", "analysis": "Chick-fil-A is not competing in the same economic universe as the rest of the category. A $9.2M average unit volume on a six-day operating week means a single Chick-fil-A generates roughly what four Popeyes generate, and it does it with the industry's most sought-after operator pipeline. The interesting question is no longer whether Chick-fil-A wins the U.S. chicken sandwich war — it is what happens when unit volumes plateau. Systemwide sales growth of 5.2% in 2025 was driven substantially by the 179-unit build, and Restaurant Business has flagged that AUVs are pressing against a practical throughput ceiling. That is precisely why the $1B international push and the licensed-venue channel matter: they are the two remaining growth vectors that do not require squeezing more cars through the same drive-thru." }, { "slug": "raising-canes", "name": "Raising Cane's", "tags": [ "tenders", "national", "corporate", "growing" ], "hq": "Plano, TX", "founded": 1996, "parent": "Raising Cane's Restaurants, LLC (private)", "ownership": "Private — founder Todd Graves, co-CEO", "franchiseModel": "Overwhelmingly company-operated. New growth is company-owned, including the first international company-operated market (UK).", "stats": { "systemwideSales": { "v": 5480000000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "rbo-chicken-slows", "note": "+10.6% YoY" }, "usUnits": { "v": 913, "asOf": "YE2025", "src": "rbo-chicken-slows", "note": "+10.3% unit growth" }, "auv": { "v": 6300000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "rd-auv-leaders", "note": "Circana 2026 rankings; 4th-highest AUV of 50 major brands. Technomic put 2024 AUV at $6.6M" }, "currentUnits": { "v": 953, "asOf": "Early 2026", "src": "nrn-canes-openings", "note": "Across 43 states" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": 10.3, "salesGrowthPct": 10.6, "auvUsd": 6300000, "capRateMid": 4.85, "netClosures": false, "capRateBasis": "brand-specific asking range (Boulder Group)" }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "YE2025", "src": "rbo-chicken-slows" }, "salesGrowthPct": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "rbo-chicken-slows" }, "auvUsd": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "rd-auv-leaders" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "boulder-canes" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "4.70%–5.00% on 15-year ground leases (~5.00% asking, Q1 2026)", "capSrc": [ "boulder-canes" ], "notes": "Because Cane's builds and operates rather than franchises, its net-lease product carries a corporate guarantee — which is why it prices within 40–60 bps of Chick-fil-A. Standard structure is a 20-year absolute-NNN ground lease with 10% increases every five years. A corporate-guaranteed 15-year ground lease traded at a 4.75% cap on a $6.84M price in a deal arranged by SRS and JLL.", "notesSrc": [ "boulder-canes", "connectcre-canes-gl" ] }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "1,000th restaurant opened March 2026 on Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles", "src": "qsr-canes-london" }, { "text": "Nearly 100 new restaurants planned for 2026; long-term goal of 1,600 restaurants", "src": "nrn-canes-openings" }, { "text": "London West End flagship at 21–22 Coventry Street — first European location, company-operated", "src": "rd-canes-london" } ], "momentum": "hot", "analysis": "Cane's is the only brand in the category compounding double-digit unit growth on top of a $6M+ AUV, and it does it with a four-item menu and no franchisees to manage. That combination — corporate control, extreme menu simplicity, elite volumes — is why it has moved from regional curiosity to the clearest structural threat to Chick-fil-A in a decade. For real estate, the absence of franchising is the whole story: every Cane's is a corporate credit, so its ground leases price like investment-grade paper even though the company is private. Watch the London flagship. A company-operated international build is a capital-intensive way to grow, and it signals that Graves intends to own the brand's economics abroad rather than sell them to master franchisees." }, { "slug": "wingstop", "name": "Wingstop", "tags": [ "wings", "national", "franchised", "public" ], "hq": "Addison, TX", "founded": 1994, "parent": "Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING)", "ownership": "Public", "franchiseModel": "~98% franchised. Heavy multi-unit development agreements; company operates a small corporate base for testing.", "stats": { "systemwideSales": { "v": 5300000000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "wing-fy25", "note": "+12.1% YoY" }, "usUnits": { "v": 2586, "asOf": "2025-12-27", "src": "wing-10k-2025", "note": "2,529 franchised / 57 company-owned" }, "globalUnits": { "v": 3056, "asOf": "2025-12-27", "src": "wing-10k-2025", "note": "Includes 470 international franchised restaurants" }, "auv": { "v": 2000000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "wing-fy25", "note": "Domestic AUV, down from $2.1M in FY2024" }, "unitChange": { "v": 493, "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "wing-fy25", "note": "Net new units, +19.2% unit growth" }, "compsLatest": { "v": -7.5, "fmt": "pct", "asOf": "Q2 2026", "src": "wing-q2-2026", "note": "Domestic same-store sales" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": 19.2, "salesGrowthPct": 12.1, "auvUsd": 2000000, "capRateMid": 6.85, "compsPct": -7.5, "netClosures": false, "capRateBasis": "franchisee QSR benchmark" }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "2025-12-27", "src": "wing-10k-2025" }, "salesGrowthPct": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "wing-fy25" }, "auvUsd": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "wing-fy25" }, "compsPct": { "asOf": "Q2 2026", "src": "wing-q2-2026" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Franchisee-guaranteed QSR pricing — Boulder Group's franchisee QSR benchmark was 6.85% in Q2 2026", "capSrc": [ "boulder-q2-2026" ], "notes": "Wingstop is an inline / endcap tenant far more often than a freestanding one: roughly 1,700 SF boxes, no drive-thru at most legacy locations, and leases signed by franchisee entities rather than the public company. That is why Wingstop trades wide of freestanding chicken tenants despite the parent being an investment-grade-adjacent public company — the lease credit is the operator, not WING." }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "FY2026 guidance reiterated at 15%–16% global unit growth", "src": "wing-q2-2026" }, { "text": "102 restaurants opened in Q2 2026 alone", "src": "wing-q2-2026" } ], "momentum": "split", "analysis": "Wingstop is the sharpest divergence story in the category: development is still exceptional and comps have fallen off a cliff. The brand opened 493 net units in fiscal 2025 (+19.2%) and another 102 in a single quarter of 2026, while domestic same-store sales fell 7.5% in Q2 2026 and management cut full-year comp guidance to -4% to -6%. Management attributes the pressure to a 9% drop in digital visits in urban trade areas, where more than 55% of the system sits. The uncomfortable arithmetic for franchisees is that AUV has already slipped from $2.1M to $2.0M while the system adds units into the same trade areas. Unit-level cash flow, not unit count, is the number to watch in 2027 — and it is the number that will determine whether Wingstop's franchisee net-lease product holds its current pricing." }, { "slug": "popeyes", "name": "Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen", "tags": [ "chicken sandwich", "fried chicken", "national", "franchised", "declining" ], "hq": "Miami, FL", "founded": 1972, "parent": "Restaurant Brands International (NYSE: QSR)", "ownership": "Public parent", "franchiseModel": "Almost entirely franchised, with large multi-unit operators. RBI has selectively taken restaurants back onto its own balance sheet during operator distress.", "stats": { "usCanadaUnits": { "v": 3578, "asOf": "2025-12-31", "src": "rbi-10k-2025", "note": "U.S. & Canada combined" }, "globalUnits": { "v": 5413, "asOf": "2025-12-31", "src": "rbi-10k-2025" }, "systemwideSales": { "v": 7789000000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "rbi-10k-2025", "note": "Global Popeyes systemwide sales" }, "compsFY": { "v": -3.2, "fmt": "pct", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "cnbc-rbi-q4-2025", "note": "U.S. comparable sales" }, "compsLatest": { "v": -5.2, "fmt": "pct", "asOf": "Q2 2026", "src": "rd-bk-popeyes-q2", "note": "U.S. comparable sales; sixth consecutive negative quarter" }, "franchiseeProfit": { "v": 235000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "cnbc-rbi-q4-2025", "note": "Average franchisee restaurant-level profitability" } }, "metrics": { "salesGrowthPct": -3.3, "capRateMid": 5.8, "compsPct": -5.2, "netClosures": true, "salesGrowthNote": "Popeyes system-wide sales growth, Q2 2026", "capRateBasis": "marketed average asking cap rate" }, "metricsMeta": { "salesGrowthPct": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "rbi-10k-2025" }, "compsPct": { "asOf": "Q2 2026", "src": "rd-bk-popeyes-q2" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "2025-12-31", "src": "topnetlease-popeyes" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "5.10%–6.80% marketed range; ~5.80% average asking", "capSrc": [ "topnetlease-popeyes" ], "notes": "Typical Popeyes net-lease deals carry 15–20 year initial terms with 7.5%–10% rent bumps every five years, and pricing has historically run roughly $1.2M–$4.1M. The credit is almost always a franchisee entity, and 2026 has supplied a live stress test: Four Corners Property Trust has bought Popeyes assets with ~20 years of term remaining, while distressed franchisee lease rejections are pushing second-generation Popeyes boxes back into the market.", "notesSrc": [ "topnetlease-popeyes", "qsr-sailormen-97" ] }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "Peter Perdue, formerly Burger King U.S. COO, named president of Popeyes U.S. & Canada", "src": "rd-perdue" }, { "text": "Turnaround pillars: operations and service, a narrowed menu, and consistent everyday value ($5 Faves); field leadership team expanding roughly 75%", "src": "qsr-popeyes-president" } ], "momentum": "pressured", "analysis": "Popeyes is the clearest example of why unit count is a lagging indicator. The system is still enormous — 3,578 restaurants across the U.S. and Canada — but U.S. comparable sales have now been negative for six straight quarters, Q1 2026 was the worst quarter in roughly two decades at -6.5%, and average franchisee restaurant-level profit has fallen to about $235,000. At that level of unit economics, a leveraged 100-unit operator does not have a cash-flow problem, it has a solvency problem, which is exactly what played out at Sailormen. RBI's answer is operational rather than promotional: a new U.S. president out of the Burger King turnaround, a narrower menu, permanent value architecture and a materially larger field organization. RBI's CEO expects positive comps in the second half of 2026. For real estate, the more important consequence is inventory — every distressed Popeyes portfolio produces second-generation drive-thru boxes in dense, chicken-proven trade areas." }, { "slug": "kfc", "name": "KFC U.S.", "tags": [ "fried chicken", "national", "franchised", "declining" ], "hq": "Plano, TX (relocating from Louisville, KY)", "founded": 1930, "parent": "Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM)", "ownership": "Public parent", "franchiseModel": "99% franchised globally; U.S. system dominated by large legacy operators such as KBP Brands.", "stats": { "usUnits": { "v": 3523, "asOf": "YE2025", "src": "thestreet-kfc-207", "note": "Down from 3,669 entering 2025" }, "usClosures2025": { "v": 161, "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "thestreet-kfc-207", "note": "Against 15 openings (12 franchised, 3 company)" }, "closures15mo": { "v": 207, "asOf": "Jan 2025 – Mar 2026", "src": "thestreet-kfc-207", "note": "~5% of the U.S. footprint" }, "closuresTTM": { "v": 312, "asOf": "Jul 2025 – Jul 2026", "src": "thestreet-kfc-300", "note": "-7.64% of the U.S. footprint" }, "globalUnits": { "v": 33897, "asOf": "YE2025", "src": "yum-10k-2025", "note": "KFC Division; 90% outside the U.S." }, "globalSales": { "v": 36400000000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "thestreet-kfc-207", "note": "KFC global system sales, up from $34.4B; U.S. system sales -3%" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": -4, "unitGrowthDerived": true, "salesGrowthPct": -3, "capRateMid": 6.85, "compsPct": 2, "netClosures": true, "capRateBasis": "franchisee QSR benchmark" }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "YE2025", "src": "thestreet-kfc-207", "derived": true }, "salesGrowthPct": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "thestreet-kfc-207" }, "compsPct": { "asOf": "YE2025", "src": "thestreet-kfc-207" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "YE2025", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Franchisee QSR benchmark 6.85% (Q2 2026); older, shorter-term KFC assets trade wider", "capSrc": [ "boulder-q2-2026" ], "notes": "KFC is the single largest source of second-generation chicken real estate in America right now. More than 300 U.S. locations closed in the twelve months ending July 2026, and the typical asset is an older freestanding box — often with a drive-thru, frequently in an infill trade area that has been proven for chicken for thirty years. That inventory is where conversions, redevelopments and mispriced land basis get created." }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "U.S. corporate headquarters relocating from Louisville, KY to Plano, TX — ~100 corporate roles over six months and 90 remote roles over 18 months", "src": "nrn-kfc-hq" }, { "text": "Menu reset: spicy wings, returning potato wedges, expanded boneless and sauce lineup, new sandwiches", "src": "cnbc-kfc-menu" } ], "momentum": "turnaround", "analysis": "KFC U.S. is shrinking and improving at the same time, which is not a contradiction — it is what a portfolio cleanup looks like. The chain has closed more than 300 U.S. restaurants in twelve months and ended 2025 at 3,523 units, but has also strung together three consecutive quarters of positive same-store sales after seven negative ones, with roughly +2% in the most recent quarter. Yum is doing what a franchisor does when the tail of the system is uneconomic: cull the weak boxes, move the U.S. team to Texas, and put the menu back on the parts of the bird the market actually wants (boneless, wings, sauce). The strategic risk is that KFC is now a 3,500-unit U.S. brand supporting the marketing weight of a 34,000-unit global brand, and the American franchisee base bears the fixed costs while international carries the growth." }, { "slug": "zaxbys", "name": "Zaxby's", "tags": [ "tenders", "wings", "regional", "franchised", "growing" ], "hq": "Athens, GA", "founded": 1990, "parent": "Zaxby's Franchising LLC (private; Goldman Sachs minority investment)", "ownership": "Private", "franchiseModel": "Mixed corporate and franchise; renewed franchise recruiting drive into the Midwest and Northeast.", "stats": { "usUnits": { "v": 1000, "asOf": "Feb 2026", "src": "ifa-zaxbys-1000", "note": "Surpassed 1,000 locations" }, "unitsPrior": { "v": 969, "asOf": "YE2024", "src": "nrn-zaxbys-ops", "note": "+3% YoY (Technomic)" }, "systemwideSales": { "v": 2600000000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "nrn-zaxbys-ops", "note": "+4.6% (Technomic); brand projected ~$2.8B for 2025" }, "auv": { "v": 2710000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "YE2024", "src": "nrn-zaxbys-ops", "note": "Technomic" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": 3.2, "unitGrowthDerived": true, "salesGrowthPct": 4.6, "auvUsd": 2710000, "capRateMid": 6.85, "netClosures": false, "capRateBasis": "franchisee QSR benchmark" }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "Feb 2026", "src": "ifa-zaxbys-1000", "derived": true }, "salesGrowthPct": { "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "nrn-zaxbys-ops" }, "auvUsd": { "asOf": "YE2024", "src": "nrn-zaxbys-ops" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "Feb 2026", "src": "bullrealty-zaxbys" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Marketed franchisee product in the high-6% to mid-7% range — a Midwest City, OK asset was offered at a 7.42% cap ($2.11M)", "capSrc": [ "bullrealty-zaxbys", "boulder-zaxbys" ], "notes": "Zaxby's is a larger box than most of the category — historically 3,500+ SF with dine-in — which is why the brand is now leaning on smaller and non-traditional formats to enter dense Northeast markets. The Upper East Side unit is roughly 2,800 SF with 16 seats and kiosks.", "notesSrc": [ "co-zaxbys-nyc" ] }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "First NYC restaurant opened in the Bronx June 29, 2026; Manhattan (1267 First Avenue) followed", "src": "rd-zaxbys-nyc" }, { "text": "First New Jersey location (Magnolia) opened December 2025 — the brand's Northeast debut; 24th state", "src": "rd-zaxbys-nyc" }, { "text": "60+ openings targeted in 2026; long-term goal of 100 new stores per year", "src": "rd-zaxbys-nyc" } ], "momentum": "steady", "analysis": "Zaxby's spent the last several years fixing operations rather than chasing unit count, and the payoff is a $2.71M AUV that sits second only to Chick-fil-A and Cane's among franchised chicken chains. Crossing 1,000 units and then walking into the Bronx and the Upper East Side is a genuine test: Zaxby's has never had to make a 2,800 SF, seat-constrained, no-drive-thru box work at Southeast economics. If it does, the brand's franchise recruiting pitch changes completely, because the addressable market stops being the Southeast and starts being every dense metro where Cane's and Wingstop already print volume." }, { "slug": "bojangles", "name": "Bojangles", "tags": [ "fried chicken", "breakfast", "regional", "franchised", "growing" ], "hq": "Charlotte, NC", "founded": 1977, "parent": "Bojangles, Inc. (private — Durational Capital Management and The Jordan Company)", "ownership": "Private equity owned", "franchiseModel": "Roughly two-thirds franchised; aggressive multi-unit development agreements outside the Southeast.", "stats": { "usUnits": { "v": 860, "asOf": "Late 2025", "src": "qsr-bojangles-portability", "note": "Brand cited 827 (266 company / 561 franchised) earlier in 2025" }, "unitsPrior": { "v": 825, "asOf": "YE2024", "src": "ft-top400-chicken", "note": "559 franchised / 266 corporate" }, "systemwideSales": { "v": 1881000000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "ft-top400-chicken", "note": "U.S. sales" }, "auv": { "v": 2351000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "ft-top400-chicken" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": 4.2, "unitGrowthDerived": true, "auvUsd": 2351000, "capRateMid": 6.85, "netClosures": false, "capRateBasis": "franchisee QSR benchmark" }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "Late 2025", "src": "qsr-bojangles-portability", "derived": true }, "auvUsd": { "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "ft-top400-chicken" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "Late 2025", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Franchisee QSR pricing; benchmark 6.85% (Q2 2026)", "capSrc": [ "boulder-q2-2026" ], "notes": "Bojangles' breakfast daypart makes its sites unusually dependent on morning commuter patterns — a materially different site-selection screen than a Cane's or Wingstop, and one reason the brand's western and northern expansion is being executed through experienced multi-unit operators rather than new franchisees." }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "Eyas Capital, now the largest franchisee, agreed to open 40+ units across Ohio", "src": "rd-eyas-boj" }, { "text": "Texas: 18 units open, ~20 in development, plus a 21-unit San Antonio agreement", "src": "qsr-bojangles-portability" }, { "text": "First Las Vegas location opened January 2025 with four more planned", "src": "qsr-bojangles-portability" } ], "momentum": "expanding", "analysis": "Bojangles is running the most interesting portability experiment in the category. A brand built on Carolina breakfast biscuits and sweet tea is now signing 20- and 40-unit agreements in Ohio, Texas and Nevada — markets with no cultural memory of the brand. The financing structure is telling: the largest franchisee is now a private-equity-backed platform (Eyas Capital) rather than a family operator, which is how franchisors buy geographic expansion when the brand cannot fund it on the balance sheet. The number to watch is out-of-region AUV. If new-market units clear the $2.35M system average, Bojangles becomes a national development story; if they don't, it stays a Southeast brand with expensive outposts." }, { "slug": "churchs-texas-chicken", "name": "Church's Texas Chicken", "tags": [ "fried chicken", "value", "national", "franchised" ], "hq": "Atlanta, GA", "founded": 1952, "parent": "Church's Texas Chicken (private — High Bluff Capital Partners)", "ownership": "Private equity owned", "franchiseModel": "Predominantly franchised, with a corporate base; heavy international master-franchise activity as Texas Chicken.", "stats": { "usUnits": { "v": 885, "asOf": "Entering 2026", "src": "ft-church-2025", "note": "+12 U.S. units in 2025" }, "systemwideSales": { "v": 862000000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "ft-church-2025", "note": "U.S.; $847M in 2024" }, "auv": { "v": 1138000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "ft-church-2025", "note": "Up from $1.097M in 2024 and ~$1.0M in 2023" }, "openings2025": { "v": 26, "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "ft-church-2025", "note": "21 franchised + 5 corporate; 12 units ceased operations, 1 terminated, 1 corporate closure" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": 1.4, "unitGrowthDerived": true, "salesGrowthPct": 1.8, "salesGrowthDerived": true, "auvUsd": 1138000, "capRateMid": 6.85, "netClosures": false, "capRateBasis": "franchisee QSR benchmark" }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "Entering 2026", "src": "ft-church-2025", "derived": true }, "salesGrowthPct": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "ft-church-2025", "derived": true }, "auvUsd": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "ft-church-2025" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "Entering 2026", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Wide of the category — small-box, value-positioned franchisee credit trades at the high end of the franchisee QSR band (6.85%+ benchmark)", "capSrc": [ "boulder-q2-2026" ], "notes": "Church's is the lowest-AUV of the major national chicken brands at $1.14M, which sets a hard ceiling on rent. Sites are typically small urban infill boxes rather than suburban pads, and rent-to-sales discipline matters more here than in any other brand in this database." }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "Growth capital committed by ownership for remodels and new builds", "src": "qsr-church-growth" }, { "text": "600-unit development plan for China under the Texas Chicken brand; 900 units planned across Europe and other international markets", "src": "rd-church-china" } ], "momentum": "stabilizing", "analysis": "Church's spent a decade shrinking; in 2025 it stopped. The U.S. system added 12 net units to 885, sales rose to $862M and AUV climbed to $1.138M — the third consecutive year of AUV improvement off a ~$1.0M base. That is a genuine stabilization, but it should be read for what it is: Church's is a value brand with roughly one-eighth the unit volume of Chick-fil-A, operating in trade areas where the consumer is most exposed to price. The international pipeline (600 units in China, 900 across Europe and beyond) is where the unit growth story actually lives." }, { "slug": "daves-hot-chicken", "name": "Dave's Hot Chicken", "tags": [ "hot chicken", "tenders", "national", "franchised", "growing" ], "hq": "Pasadena, CA", "founded": 2017, "parent": "Dave's Hot Chicken (majority owned by Roark Capital)", "ownership": "Private equity controlled", "franchiseModel": "Heavily franchised through experienced multi-unit operators; 87% of operators are multi-unit, multi-brand owners.", "stats": { "usUnits": { "v": 390, "asOf": "May 2026", "src": "ifa-daves-eight", "note": "Across 45 states, plus 25+ international units in Canada, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UK" }, "units2025": { "v": 420, "asOf": "YE2025 target", "src": "rbo-roark-daves", "note": "Company's stated year-end 2025 target" }, "units2024": { "v": 245, "asOf": "YE2024", "src": "cnbc-daves-roark", "note": "+43% YoY" }, "systemwideSales2024": { "v": 617000000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "rbo-roark-daves", "note": "Domestic; +57% YoY" }, "salesGrowth2025": { "v": 51, "fmt": "pct", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "rbo-chicken-slows", "note": "Fastest-growing of the 200 largest U.S. chains; unit growth +52.3%" }, "dealValue": { "v": 1000000000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "June 2025", "src": "cnbc-daves-roark", "note": "Roark Capital majority acquisition" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": 52.3, "salesGrowthPct": 51, "auvUsd": 3000000, "capRateMid": 6.85, "netClosures": false, "auvNote": "franchisee-reported", "capRateBasis": "franchisee QSR benchmark" }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "May 2026", "src": "ifa-daves-eight" }, "salesGrowthPct": { "asOf": "May 2026", "src": "ifa-daves-eight" }, "auvUsd": { "asOf": "May 2026", "src": "ifa-daves-eight" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "May 2026", "src": "rbo-roark-daves" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Trades tight for a young franchisee credit; brand-record cap rates have been set on new-construction drive-thru prototypes", "capSrc": [ "rbo-roark-daves" ], "notes": "Dave's began as a 1,200–1,800 SF inline concept and has moved decisively to freestanding drive-thru prototypes on 15-year absolute-NNN leases with 10% increases every five years. Franchisee-reported AUVs above $3M against a small box are the reason net-lease buyers accept franchisee credit here at pricing normally reserved for corporate tenants." }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "Opened a record eight restaurants in a single day in April 2026", "src": "ifa-daves-eight" }, { "text": "150+ openings planned for 2026; roughly 1,000 additional locations in development", "src": "ifa-daves-eight" } ], "momentum": "rocket", "analysis": "Dave's is the fastest-growing large chain in America and the single most important development story in chicken real estate. Sales grew 51% and units 52.3% in 2025, Roark bought control at a $1B valuation, and the brand opened eight restaurants in one day in 2026. Franchisee-reported AUVs above $3M with 18–20% restaurant-level EBITDA margins explain why sophisticated multi-brand operators are stacking Dave's on top of existing portfolios — the payback math beats almost anything else they can buy. The risk is the standard hot-chicken risk: the concept is culturally hot right now, and roughly 1,000 units in development means the system will be selling into far less proven trade areas within 24 months than the ones that produced those AUVs." }, { "slug": "slim-chickens", "name": "Slim Chickens", "tags": [ "tenders", "fast casual", "national", "franchised", "growing" ], "hq": "Fayetteville, AR", "founded": 2003, "parent": "Slim Chickens (private)", "ownership": "Private", "franchiseModel": "96% franchised; growth driven by large area-development agreements.", "stats": { "globalUnits": { "v": 300, "asOf": "2026", "src": "qsr-slim-2026", "note": "More than 300 restaurants worldwide" }, "auv": { "v": 2440000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "2025 FDD", "src": "qsr-slim-2026", "note": "Qualifying system AUV; best-performing unit $5.36M" }, "systemwideSales": { "v": 570000000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "ft-top400-chicken", "note": "+23.4% YoY; +37 units" }, "agreements2025": { "v": 110, "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "qsr-slim-2026", "note": "Development agreements signed" }, "pipelineUnits": { "v": 1200, "asOf": "2026", "src": "qsr-slim-2026", "note": "Committed development pipeline" } }, "metrics": { "salesGrowthPct": 23.4, "auvUsd": 2440000, "capRateMid": 6.85, "netClosures": false, "capRateBasis": "franchisee QSR benchmark" }, "metricsMeta": { "salesGrowthPct": { "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "ft-top400-chicken" }, "auvUsd": { "asOf": "2025 FDD", "src": "qsr-slim-2026" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "2026", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Franchisee QSR pricing (6.85% benchmark, Q2 2026); new-construction drive-thru product prices inside that", "capSrc": [ "boulder-q2-2026" ], "notes": "Slim Chickens builds a fast-casual box with a drive-thru and a full dine-in room — larger and more expensive than the tender-shack formats it competes with, which raises the AUV threshold a site has to clear." }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "Pipeline of more than 1,200 restaurants; 110 development agreements signed in 2025", "src": "qsr-slim-2026" }, { "text": "Target markets include Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut, plus Europe, Asia and the GCC", "src": "qsr-slim-2026" }, { "text": "Christina Vaughan named first President (also COO); Matt Green, ex-Starbucks, named Chief Development Officer", "src": "qsr-slim-dev" } ], "momentum": "expanding", "analysis": "Slim Chickens has quietly built the largest committed pipeline-to-current-units ratio in the category — more than 1,200 units in development against roughly 300 open. That ratio is the single most useful number for anyone selling sites or capital to this brand, and it is also the number most likely to disappoint: signed area-development agreements convert to open restaurants at well under 100% across franchising generally. Hiring a former Starbucks site-strategy executive as Chief Development Officer is the right response — the constraint on Slim Chickens is no longer demand for agreements, it is real estate throughput." }, { "slug": "el-pollo-loco", "name": "El Pollo Loco", "tags": [ "grilled chicken", "regional", "public", "franchised" ], "hq": "Costa Mesa, CA", "founded": 1980, "parent": "El Pollo Loco Holdings (NASDAQ: LOCO)", "ownership": "Public", "franchiseModel": "Mixed company-operated and franchised; franchise development pushing east from California.", "stats": { "systemwideSales": { "v": 1125400000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "loco-q4-2025" }, "usUnits": { "v": 511, "asOf": "Q2 2026", "src": "u-s-securities-and-exchange-commission-el-pollo--ac2b8d" }, "auv": { "v": 2300000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "loco-q4-2025", "note": "Company-operated AUV; restaurant contribution margin 17.8%" }, "compsFY": { "v": 0.1, "fmt": "pct", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "loco-q4-2025", "note": "System-wide comparable restaurant sales" }, "compsLatest": { "v": 2.1, "fmt": "pct", "asOf": "Q4 2025", "src": "loco-q4-2025" }, "openings": { "v": 9, "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "loco-q4-2025" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": 1.8, "unitGrowthDerived": true, "auvUsd": 2300000, "capRateMid": 5.85, "compsPct": 2.1, "netClosures": false, "capRateBasis": "corporate QSR benchmark" }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "loco-q4-2025", "derived": true }, "auvUsd": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "loco-q4-2025" }, "compsPct": { "asOf": "Q4 2025", "src": "loco-q4-2025" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Public-company corporate credit on company-operated sites; franchisee sites price at franchisee QSR levels", "capSrc": [ "boulder-q2-2026" ], "notes": "El Pollo Loco's fire-grill platform requires a heavier kitchen build than fryer-only concepts, which raises both build cost and the switching cost of a second-generation conversion." }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "500th restaurant opened in Colorado Springs; nine openings in 2025", "src": "loco-q4-2025" } ], "momentum": "steady", "analysis": "El Pollo Loco is the category's counter-programming: flame-grilled, Mexican-inspired, and largely insulated from the fried-chicken arms race. It is also the smallest growth story here — nine openings in a year against a 500-unit base, and flat full-year comps of +0.1%. The Q4 acceleration to +2.1% and a 17.8% restaurant contribution margin say the operating model is healthy; the constraint is geographic concentration in nine states and a build-cost profile that makes franchise development slower than a fryer-only competitor's." }, { "slug": "chicken-salad-chick", "name": "Chicken Salad Chick", "tags": [ "fast casual", "regional", "franchised", "growing" ], "hq": "Atlanta, GA", "founded": 2008, "parent": "Chicken Salad Chick (private — Brentwood Associates)", "ownership": "Private equity owned", "franchiseModel": "Predominantly franchised; record franchise-agreement signing pace.", "stats": { "usUnits": { "v": 300, "asOf": "May 2025", "src": "rd-csc-300", "note": "300th location; unit count +13% YoY" }, "unitsPrior": { "v": 288, "asOf": "YE2024", "src": "ft-top400-chicken" }, "systemwideSales": { "v": 394200000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "qsr-csc-record", "note": "Franchise Times reported $398M system sales for 2024" }, "auv": { "v": 1480000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "qsr-csc-record", "note": "Franchise-store AUV, +~$75K vs 2023 (~5% same-store gain); record system AUV ~$1.5M" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": 13, "auvUsd": 1480000, "capRateMid": 6.85, "netClosures": false, "capRateBasis": "franchisee QSR benchmark" }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "May 2025", "src": "rd-csc-300" }, "auvUsd": { "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "qsr-csc-record" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "May 2025", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Franchisee credit, inline and endcap product; prices wide of freestanding drive-thru chicken", "capSrc": [ "boulder-q2-2026" ], "notes": "Predominantly lunch-daypart, inline retail sites with a small footprint and no fryer line — a fundamentally different real estate profile from the rest of this database, and one that competes for space with fast-casual rather than QSR pads." }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "35 franchise agreements signed in Q1 2025 — the brand's most in any quarter", "src": "rd-csc-300" } ], "momentum": "growing", "analysis": "Chicken Salad Chick is the only brand in this database that isn't really in the chicken sandwich war — it is a lunch-daypart, dine-in, non-fried concept with a $1.48M AUV and almost no drive-thru dependency. That makes it a poor comp for the rest of the category and an excellent one for anyone underwriting inline retail: the brand adds units at 13% a year without competing for the pads that Cane's, Chick-fil-A and Dave's are bidding up." }, { "slug": "golden-chick", "name": "Golden Chick", "tags": [ "fried chicken", "tenders", "regional", "franchised", "growing" ], "hq": "Richardson, TX", "founded": 1967, "parent": "Golden Chick (private)", "ownership": "Private", "franchiseModel": "Franchise-led, concentrated in Texas with multi-unit operators driving expansion.", "stats": { "usUnits": { "v": 250, "asOf": "2026", "src": "qsr-golden-250", "note": "250th restaurant opened in Little Elm, TX; 240+ locations across TX, OK, FL, LA, MS and KS" }, "openings2025": { "v": 23, "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "qsr-golden-250", "note": "All-time brand record for annual openings" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": 9.2, "unitGrowthDerived": true, "auvUsd": 1355743, "capRateMid": 6.85, "netClosures": false, "auvNote": "Average gross revenue, franchised and company-operated prototypical restaurants, per Golden Chick's 2023 FDD Item 19; fiscal year inferred from FDD filing year, not confirmed against the FDD itself.", "capRateBasis": "franchisee QSR benchmark" }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "2026", "src": "qsr-golden-250", "derived": true }, "auvUsd": { "asOf": "2023 FDD", "on": "2022-12-31", "src": "1851-franchise-franchise-deep-dive-golden-chick--adf636" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "2026", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Regional franchisee credit — prices at or wide of the 6.85% franchisee QSR benchmark", "capSrc": [ "boulder-q2-2026" ], "notes": "Golden Chick's development is concentrated in Texas secondary and tertiary markets, where land basis and construction cost are materially lower than the metros the national brands are fighting over. That is the brand's structural advantage as a franchise investment." }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "SXThree Restaurant Group targeting 100 Golden Chicks by 2030; new development agreements in Alabama and Mississippi", "src": "ft-golden-sxthree" }, { "text": "Korpal Group signed a 13-unit development agreement — 10 in greater Houston over four years and three in Beaumont", "src": "ft-korpal" }, { "text": "Entering Nevada, Arkansas, Missouri and Arizona", "src": "qsr-golden-250" } ], "momentum": "growing", "analysis": "Golden Chick is the best case study in this database for how a regional brand actually scales: not through a national franchise-sales push, but by finding two or three operator families and letting them compound. SXThree is on a path to 100 units by 2030; the Korpal brothers converted a second-generation Subway family operation into a 13-unit Golden Chick development agreement across Houston and Beaumont. Every incremental unit is being bought by someone who already owns units. For a brokerage or capital provider, that concentration is the opportunity — there are perhaps a dozen phone calls that control the brand's entire Texas development pipeline." }, { "slug": "huey-magoos", "name": "Huey Magoo's", "tags": [ "tenders", "emerging", "franchised", "growing" ], "hq": "Orlando, FL", "founded": 2004, "parent": "Huey Magoo's Chicken Tenders (private)", "ownership": "Private", "franchiseModel": "Franchised, with a new lower-cost drive-thru prototype aimed at build-cost reduction.", "stats": { "usUnits": { "v": 85, "asOf": "YE2025", "src": "rd-huey", "note": "2026 FDD; up from 43 in early 2023" }, "systemwideSales": { "v": 137000000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "ft-top400-chicken", "note": "+24.3% YoY; No. 280 on the Franchise Times Top 400 as a new entry" } }, "metrics": { "salesGrowthPct": 24.3, "capRateMid": 6.85, "netClosures": false, "capRateBasis": "franchisee QSR benchmark" }, "metricsMeta": { "salesGrowthPct": { "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "ft-top400-chicken" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "YE2025", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Emerging-brand franchisee credit — thin trading history, prices wide", "capSrc": [ "boulder-q2-2026" ], "notes": "Huey Magoo's has cut drive-thru build costs by roughly 40% with a new prototype, which is the single most important variable for an emerging tender brand: build cost determines whether a franchisee can clear a return at a $1.5M–$2.0M AUV.", "notesSrc": [ "rd-huey" ] }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "On track to reach 100 restaurants in 2026", "src": "rd-huey" } ], "momentum": "growing", "analysis": "Huey Magoo's roughly doubled from 43 to 85 units in under three years and cut its drive-thru build cost by about 40%. That second number is the real story. Emerging chicken brands do not die from lack of demand — they die when a $2.2M build cost meets a $1.6M AUV. Getting the prototype cheaper is what turns a Florida tender brand into a franchisable national concept." }, { "slug": "laynes-chicken-fingers", "name": "Layne's Chicken Fingers", "tags": [ "tenders", "emerging", "franchised", "growing" ], "hq": "Texas", "founded": 1994, "parent": "Layne's Chicken Fingers (private)", "ownership": "Private", "franchiseModel": "Franchised; attracting experienced operators from Wendy's, Arby's and other systems.", "stats": { "usUnits": { "v": 50, "asOf": "Q2 2026", "src": "fb101-laynes-2026", "note": "Up from 40 at the end of 2025" }, "openings2025": { "v": 21, "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "pr-laynes-2025", "note": "110% growth over the prior year; 10 new franchisees added" }, "agreements": { "v": 68, "asOf": "Late 2025", "src": "pr-laynes-2025", "note": "Restaurants under signed agreements, including a 44-store Texas deal and a 15-unit Wisconsin deal" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": 110, "auvUsd": 2206127, "capRateMid": 6.85, "netClosures": false, "auvNote": "Traditional-restaurant average gross revenue, 15 franchised restaurants open the full 2025 calendar year, per the 2026 FDD Item 19 as quoted by 1851 Franchise. Median $2,196,905; range $1,535,827-$2,949,615.", "capRateBasis": "franchisee QSR benchmark" }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "Q2 2026", "src": "fb101-laynes-2026" }, "auvUsd": { "asOf": "CY2025", "on": "2025-12-31", "src": "1851-franchise-how-to-read-layne-s-chicken-finge-40a4db" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "Q2 2026", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Emerging-brand franchisee credit; effectively no institutional trading history", "capSrc": [ "boulder-q2-2026" ], "notes": "At 40–50 open units, Layne's real estate is still being underwritten on operator credit and personal guarantees rather than brand credit. That is normal at this stage and is exactly the window in which a developer can trade capital for below-market rent." }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "Up to 45 openings targeted in 2026 — a second consecutive year of ~100% unit growth", "src": "fb101-laynes-2026" }, { "text": "24 franchise agreements signed in the first half of 2026; long-term vision of 300 units by 2030", "src": "fb101-laynes-2026" } ], "momentum": "rocket", "analysis": "Layne's doubled its footprint in 2025 and is on track to do it again in 2026. The tell is who is signing: franchisees of Wendy's and Arby's, not first-time owners. When experienced QSR operators put capital into a 40-unit brand, they are underwriting the prototype economics, not the brand equity. Texas is the proving ground — a 44-store single agreement in the home state means the brand's next two years of unit growth are concentrated in a handful of hands, with all the development-speed upside and concentration risk that implies." }, { "slug": "pollo-campero", "name": "Pollo Campero", "tags": [ "fried chicken", "grilled chicken", "regional", "franchised", "growing" ], "hq": "Dallas, TX (U.S.)", "founded": 1971, "parent": "Campero International (private, Guatemala)", "ownership": "Private, international parent", "franchiseModel": "Mixed company and franchise in the U.S.", "stats": { "usUnits": { "v": 140, "asOf": "2025", "src": "rd-campero", "note": "Up from 118 U.S. locations in October 2024" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": 18.6, "unitGrowthDerived": true, "auvUsd": 2978747, "capRateMid": 6.85, "netClosures": false, "auvNote": "Median annual gross sales (not mean/average) across qualifying units, FY2023, per Pollo Campero's 2024 FDD Item 19 as summarized by 1851 Franchise; highest unit exceeded $5.2M, lowest was approximately $1.2M.", "capRateBasis": "franchisee QSR benchmark" }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "2025", "src": "rd-campero", "derived": true }, "auvUsd": { "asOf": "2024 FDD", "on": "2023-12-31", "src": "1851-franchise-guide-to-the-pollo-campero-franch-5d8cc4" }, "capRateMid": { "asOf": "2025", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Franchisee/corporate mix at franchisee QSR pricing", "capSrc": [ "boulder-q2-2026" ], "notes": "Campero's U.S. growth follows Central American diaspora density rather than standard QSR demographic screens, which produces site selections that look wrong on a generic model and right on a trade-area basis." }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "Stated plan to grow from 90 U.S. units to 250 over five years", "src": "rd-campero" } ], "momentum": "growing", "analysis": "Campero grows where the demographic screens of national chicken brands don't point. It is one of the few chains in the category whose site model is genuinely trade-area-specific rather than formulaic, and it is drawing millions of monthly visits in markets where the national brands under-index." }, { "slug": "krispy-krunchy-chicken", "name": "Krispy Krunchy Chicken", "tags": [ "fried chicken", "non-traditional", "c-store", "national", "franchised" ], "hq": "Louisiana", "founded": 1989, "parent": "Krispy Krunchy Foods (private)", "ownership": "Private", "franchiseModel": "Licensed foodservice programs inside convenience stores rather than standalone restaurants.", "stats": { "usUnits": { "v": 3500, "asOf": "2024-2025", "src": "cstore-krispy", "note": "Locations, predominantly inside convenience stores" }, "openings2024": { "v": 605, "asOf": "FY2024", "src": "cstore-krispy", "note": "600+ planned for 2025" } }, "metrics": { "unitGrowthPct": 17.3, "unitGrowthDerived": true, "capRateMid": null, "netClosures": false }, "metricsMeta": { "unitGrowthPct": { "asOf": "2024-2025", "src": "cstore-krispy", "derived": true } }, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Not applicable — Krispy Krunchy occupies space inside existing c-store real estate", "notes": "The largest chicken 'chain' in America by location count owns essentially no restaurant real estate. Its expansion consumes back-of-house space in fuel and convenience assets, which is why it never appears in QSR net-lease data despite outnumbering KFC by roughly 3,000 locations." }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "~150 foodservice retrofit sites targeted by year-end 2026, scaling to ~300 by 2028 and ~500 by 2030", "src": "rd-krispy-2025" } ], "momentum": "growing", "analysis": "Krispy Krunchy is the category's blind spot. With more than 3,500 locations it has more points of distribution than KFC, Popeyes or Church's — and almost no one models it as a competitor, because it lives inside gas stations. For anyone underwriting a value-positioned fried chicken box in a rural or exurban trade area, Krispy Krunchy is very often the real competitor, and it carries no rent, no separate labor line, and no real estate risk." }, { "slug": "bonchon", "name": "Bonchon", "tags": [ "wings", "korean fried chicken", "franchised", "growing" ], "hq": "United States operations", "founded": 2002, "parent": "Bonchon (private, Korean origin)", "ownership": "Private", "franchiseModel": "Franchised, with growing non-traditional (airport) development.", "stats": { "usUnits": { "v": 140, "asOf": "2025", "src": "eatthis-bonchon", "note": "More than 140 U.S. locations" } }, "metrics": { "capRateMid": null, "netClosures": false }, "metricsMeta": {}, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Primarily leased inline and non-traditional space; not an established net-lease tenant", "notes": "First U.S. airport location opened at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California — a channel with very different economics from street retail.", "notesSrc": [ "eatthis-bonchon" ] }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "Stated belief the brand can reach 1,000 stores within five years", "src": "eatthis-bonchon" } ], "momentum": "growing", "analysis": "Korean fried chicken is the most under-built segment of the American chicken market relative to consumer interest. Bonchon's move into airports is a rational read of its own economics: a high-ticket, dine-in-leaning, sauce-forward concept monetizes captive traffic better than it monetizes suburban drive-thru traffic." }, { "slug": "houston-tx-hot-chicken", "name": "Houston TX Hot Chicken", "tags": [ "hot chicken", "emerging", "franchised", "growing" ], "hq": "Houston, TX", "founded": 2020, "parent": "Houston TX Hot Chicken (private)", "ownership": "Private", "franchiseModel": "Franchised, expanding through multi-unit commitments and an international master agreement.", "stats": { "usUnits": { "v": 25, "asOf": "YE2024", "src": "nrn-houstontx", "note": "Closed 2024 with 25 locations" }, "commitments": { "v": 26, "asOf": "Jan 2026", "src": "rn-houstontx", "note": "New franchise commitments across four markets: 11 units in Illinois, 5 each in Louisiana, Arkansas and New York" } }, "metrics": { "capRateMid": null, "netClosures": false }, "metricsMeta": {}, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Emerging-brand franchisee credit; no meaningful institutional trading history", "notes": "Small-format hot chicken boxes, typically inline or endcap conversions rather than ground-up pads — a low-capital entry that competes directly for second-generation restaurant space." }, "pipeline": [ { "text": "15–20 restaurants planned to open in 2026, with an ambition of 50–60 units per year thereafter", "src": "nrn-houstontx" }, { "text": "UK debut via an exclusive European franchise agreement with PizzaExpress — three locations in 2026 and 50 over three years", "src": "rn-houstontx-uk" } ], "momentum": "emerging", "analysis": "Houston TX Hot Chicken is the clearest example of the second wave chasing Dave's. The brand is going after the same hot-chicken consumer with a smaller box and a lower entry cost, and it is signing multi-unit commitments in markets — Illinois, Arkansas, New York — where Dave's has not yet saturated. The European deal with PizzaExpress is unusual and worth watching: partnering with an established operator platform is a faster route into the UK than building a franchise network from scratch." }, { "slug": "hooters", "name": "Hooters", "tags": [ "wings", "casual dining", "franchised", "distressed" ], "hq": "Atlanta, GA", "founded": 1983, "parent": "Hooters of America (post-Chapter 11, franchisee-owned)", "ownership": "Restructured", "franchiseModel": "Post-bankruptcy, the plan moves the system to fully franchisee-owned.", "stats": { "companyUnitsSold": { "v": 151, "asOf": "2025", "src": "rd-hooters", "note": "All company-owned restaurants agreed to be sold to two franchisee groups (Tampa- and Chicago-based)" }, "closures": { "v": 30, "asOf": "June 2025", "src": "rd-hooters", "note": "Roughly 30 locations closed effective June 4, 2025 across FL, GA, MI, NC, SC, TN and TX" }, "debt": { "v": 376000000, "fmt": "usd", "asOf": "March 2025", "src": "rd-hooters", "note": "Debt cited in the Chapter 11 filing (filed March 31, 2025)" } }, "metrics": { "capRateMid": null, "netClosures": true }, "metricsMeta": {}, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Distressed / vacant casual-dining pricing — value is in the land and the box, not the lease", "notes": "Hooters closures produce the largest boxes in the chicken universe: 4,500–6,500 SF casual-dining restaurants on generous pads with parking. They are poor conversions for a 2,200 SF QSR prototype and excellent conversions for larger fast-casual, entertainment or multi-tenant redevelopment." }, "pipeline": [], "momentum": "distressed", "analysis": "Hooters matters to this database for one reason: it is the clearest source of large-format second-generation restaurant real estate in the wing category. A Chapter 11 filed with $376M of debt, roughly 30 closures in a single day in June 2025, and all 151 company restaurants sold to franchisee groups — the operating brand survives, but a meaningful volume of pad-site casual dining came back to the market. Those boxes rarely re-tenant as chicken. They re-tenant as something bigger." }, { "slug": "jollibee-us", "name": "Jollibee (U.S.)", "tags": [ "fried chicken", "international", "growing" ], "hq": "Philippines (parent); U.S. operations", "founded": 1978, "parent": "Jollibee Foods Corporation (PSE: JFC)", "ownership": "Public parent", "franchiseModel": "Company-operated and franchised depending on market.", "stats": { "closuresH1": { "v": 200, "asOf": "H1 2026", "src": "thestreet-jollibee", "note": "Group-wide store closures across all JFC brands in the first half of 2026" }, "openingTarget": { "v": 1050, "asOf": "FY2026", "src": "thestreet-jollibee", "note": "Group target lowered to 1,000–1,100 new stores from 1,200–1,300" } }, "metrics": { "capRateMid": null, "netClosures": true }, "metricsMeta": {}, "realEstate": { "capRate": "Not an established U.S. net-lease tenant at scale", "notes": "U.S. Jollibee sites are typically inline or endcap in high-density Filipino-American trade areas, with queue and seating demands that most QSR prototypes are not designed for." }, "pipeline": [], "momentum": "mixed", "analysis": "Jollibee's U.S. business remains a genuine chicken competitor in specific trade areas, but the group signal in 2026 was caution: more than 200 closures across the portfolio in the first half and a cut to the global opening target. When a growth-mode international operator trims its pipeline, it is usually reading consumer softness earlier than the domestic brands do." }, { "slug": "chicken-express", "name": "Chicken Express", "founded": 1988, "ownership": "Private", "franchiseModel": "Chicken Express operates under a franchise-focused, owner-operator model with a strong regional footprint. Unlike large multi-national chains that often sell territorial rights to institutional equity firms or passive investors, Chicken Express explicitly emphasizes an owner/operator philosophy.", "stats": {}, "metrics": {}, "metricsMeta": {}, "realEstate": {}, "pipeline": [], "tags": [], "analysis": "" } ], "operators": [ { "slug": "kbp-brands", "name": "KBP Brands", "hq": "Kansas", "brands": [ "KFC", "Taco Bell", "Arby's", "Sonic Drive-In" ], "chickenBrands": [ "KFC" ], "chickenUnits": 831, "totalUnits": 1224, "geography": [ "Midwest", "Southeast", "Mid-Atlantic", "Multi-region" ], "status": "Acquiring", "facts": [ { "text": "The nation's largest KFC franchisee at 831 KFC locations", "asOf": "2026", "src": "franchising-mb50-2026" }, { "text": "1,224 total units in 2026, up from 1,119 in 2025", "asOf": "2026", "src": "franchising-mb50-2026" }, { "text": "Portfolio breakdown reported as 828 KFC, 119 Arby's, 85 Sonic and 56 Taco Bell", "asOf": "2025", "src": "franchising-mb50-2026" }, { "text": "Growth into Inspire Brands via 119 Arby's and 85 Sonic units — 167 Sonic units acquired across two rounds", "asOf": "2025-2026", "src": "franchising-mb50-2026" }, { "text": "Acquired 28 KFC restaurants in North Carolina and South Carolina from Scottish Food Systems", "asOf": "2024", "src": "ft-kbp-28" }, { "text": "Crossed 1,000 locations, extending beyond the Yum! Brands family", "asOf": "2025-09", "src": "franchising-kbp" } ], "analysis": "KBP is the single most important counterparty in U.S. KFC real estate. With 831 KFC units it controls roughly a quarter of the entire U.S. KFC system at a moment when the brand is closing more than 300 restaurants a year — which means KBP is simultaneously the biggest buyer of KFC assets and the biggest source of KFC dispositions. Any strategy involving KFC boxes, second-generation conversions or franchise transfers runs through this operator." }, { "slug": "sailormen", "name": "Sailormen, Inc.", "hq": "Miami, FL", "brands": [ "Popeyes" ], "chickenBrands": [ "Popeyes" ], "chickenUnits": 0, "totalUnits": 0, "geography": [ "Florida", "Georgia" ], "status": "Liquidated (Chapter 11)", "facts": [ { "text": "Filed Chapter 11 in January 2026 operating 136 Popeyes restaurants in Florida and Georgia", "asOf": "2026-01", "src": "rbo-sailormen-bk" }, { "text": "Employed more than 3,300 people and generated approximately $233.5M in fiscal 2025", "asOf": "FY2025", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" }, { "text": "Court approved the sale of 97 restaurants for $16.55M total to five buyers", "asOf": "2026", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" }, { "text": "Rejected leases on roughly 33 locations it could not sell, forcing permanent closures", "asOf": "2026", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" }, { "text": "Sale approved by Judge Robert A. Mark, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida", "asOf": "2026", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" } ], "analysis": "Sailormen is the case study every chicken lender and landlord should be reading. A 136-unit operator generating $233.5M of revenue filed Chapter 11 within twelve months of Popeyes franchisee restaurant-level profit falling to roughly $235,000 per store. The portfolio cleared at $16.55M for 97 restaurants — about $171,000 per operating restaurant for the business — and 33 locations went dark through lease rejection. Those dark boxes are now the most interesting second-generation chicken inventory in Florida and Georgia." }, { "slug": "pulse-restaurant-group", "name": "Pulse Restaurant Group", "hq": "Florida", "brands": [ "Popeyes" ], "chickenBrands": [ "Popeyes" ], "chickenUnits": 50, "totalUnits": 50, "geography": [ "Tampa", "Tallahassee", "Pensacola", "Jacksonville" ], "status": "Newly formed", "facts": [ { "text": "Acquired 50 Popeyes restaurants in Tampa, Tallahassee, Pensacola and Jacksonville out of the Sailormen bankruptcy for $2.69M", "asOf": "2026", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" }, { "text": "Established by Sailormen CEO David Damato", "asOf": "2026", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" } ], "analysis": "A brand-new 50-unit Florida Popeyes platform created out of a bankruptcy at roughly $54,000 per restaurant. Whatever the operating challenges, the basis is extraordinary — and a newly recapitalized operator with 50 boxes and no legacy debt is exactly the profile that becomes an acquirer within 24 months." }, { "slug": "rfi-ventures", "name": "RFI Ventures LLC", "hq": "Not disclosed", "brands": [ "Popeyes" ], "chickenBrands": [ "Popeyes" ], "chickenUnits": 23, "totalUnits": 23, "geography": [ "Orlando, FL" ], "status": "Acquiring", "facts": [ { "text": "Acquired 23 Orlando-area Popeyes restaurants out of the Sailormen bankruptcy for $2.5M", "asOf": "2026", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" } ], "analysis": "A concentrated 23-unit Orlando Popeyes position bought at distressed pricing. Geographic density in a single high-growth metro is the most defensible franchisee structure there is." }, { "slug": "popeyes-corporate", "name": "Popeyes (RBI corporate operations)", "hq": "Miami, FL", "brands": [ "Popeyes" ], "chickenBrands": [ "Popeyes" ], "chickenUnits": 16, "totalUnits": 16, "geography": [ "Miami, FL" ], "status": "Refranchising candidate", "facts": [ { "text": "Popeyes corporate acquired 16 Miami-area restaurants out of the Sailormen bankruptcy for $9.6M — the highest price paid per restaurant among the five buyers", "asOf": "2026", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" } ], "analysis": "RBI paying $600,000 per restaurant for 16 Miami units — roughly eleven times what Pulse paid per store for the Tampa/North Florida package — is the clearest available signal of how the franchisor values dense, high-volume urban Popeyes trade areas versus the rest of the portfolio. Corporate-held restaurants acquired out of distress are almost always refranchised later; these are future transaction inventory." }, { "slug": "sbh-foods-plk", "name": "SBH Foods PLK LLC", "hq": "Not disclosed", "brands": [ "Popeyes" ], "chickenBrands": [ "Popeyes" ], "chickenUnits": 5, "totalUnits": 5, "geography": [ "Savannah, GA" ], "status": "Acquiring", "facts": [ { "text": "Acquired five Savannah-area Popeyes restaurants out of the Sailormen bankruptcy for $650,000", "asOf": "2026", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" } ], "analysis": "Small, geographically tight acquisition at $130,000 per restaurant. Sub-10-unit buyers taking single-market packages out of a larger bankruptcy is how new operator platforms typically start." }, { "slug": "61-biscuits", "name": "61 Biscuits LLC", "hq": "Not disclosed", "brands": [ "Popeyes" ], "chickenBrands": [ "Popeyes" ], "chickenUnits": 3, "totalUnits": 3, "geography": [ "West Palm Beach, FL" ], "status": "Acquiring", "facts": [ { "text": "Acquired three West Palm Beach-area Popeyes restaurants out of the Sailormen bankruptcy for $1.11M", "asOf": "2026", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" } ], "analysis": "$370,000 per restaurant for three South Florida units — the second-highest per-store price in the Sailormen auction after Popeyes corporate. Palm Beach County volumes clearly justified a premium that Tampa and Tallahassee did not." }, { "slug": "eyas-capital", "name": "Eyas Capital", "hq": "Not disclosed", "brands": [ "Bojangles", "Subway", "Burger King" ], "chickenBrands": [ "Bojangles" ], "chickenUnits": 120, "totalUnits": 350, "geography": [ "North Carolina", "Ohio", "Six-state Bojangles footprint" ], "status": "Actively developing", "facts": [ { "text": "Acquired BOJ of WNC — Bojangles' largest franchise group — a portfolio of 120 locations across six states", "asOf": "2025", "src": "rd-eyas-boj" }, { "text": "The acquisition took Eyas Capital's total restaurant portfolio to more than 350 franchise units", "asOf": "2025", "src": "rd-eyas-boj" }, { "text": "Agreed to grow Bojangles in Cincinnati and Columbus to more than 40 locations", "asOf": "2025", "src": "rd-eyas-boj" }, { "text": "Founded 2013; CEO and managing partner Tim Foley, COO/president and partner John Kaufman", "asOf": "2025", "src": "rd-eyas-boj" } ], "analysis": "Eyas is what modern franchisee scale looks like: an investment platform, not a family operator, buying the largest franchise group in a regional brand and immediately committing to 40+ new units in a market (Ohio) where the brand has no history. For anyone selling development sites in Cincinnati or Columbus, this is a single phone call that represents dozens of transactions." }, { "slug": "boj-of-wnc", "name": "BOJ of WNC", "hq": "Western North Carolina", "brands": [ "Bojangles" ], "chickenBrands": [ "Bojangles" ], "chickenUnits": 120, "totalUnits": 120, "geography": [ "Western North Carolina", "Six states" ], "status": "Acquired by Eyas Capital", "facts": [ { "text": "Was Bojangles' largest franchise group with 120 locations across six states before being acquired by Eyas Capital", "asOf": "2025", "src": "rd-eyas-boj" }, { "text": "Led by owner/operator Jeff Rigsby, who joined the Bojangles corporate team in 1994 and bought six Asheville, NC locations in 2001", "asOf": "2025", "src": "rd-eyas-boj" } ], "analysis": "Six restaurants in 2001 to the brand's largest franchisee by 2025, then an exit to institutional capital. This is the standard lifecycle of a successful regional chicken operator, and it is the reason the operator database matters more than the brand database — ownership of these units changed hands entirely without the brand's unit count moving at all." }, { "slug": "far-west-services", "name": "Far West Services", "hq": "California", "brands": [ "Wingstop" ], "chickenBrands": [ "Wingstop" ], "chickenUnits": 127, "totalUnits": 127, "geography": [ "California", "Nevada", "Washington", "Colorado", "Utah" ], "status": "Actively developing", "facts": [ { "text": "Largest West Coast Wingstop franchisee, operating 127 locations with plans for 51 more within 18 months", "asOf": "2024-05", "src": "franchising-farwest-1500" }, { "text": "Founded 2003; CEO and president Jorge Ortiz, founder and chairman Danny Sonenshine", "asOf": "2024", "src": "franchising-farwest-1500" }, { "text": "Brentwood Associates and Sixth Street made a significant growth investment in partnership with existing management", "asOf": "2023-11", "src": "sixthstreet-farwest" } ], "analysis": "Far West is the largest concentrated Wingstop position on the West Coast and it is institutionally capitalized, which matters more in 2026 than it did in 2024: Wingstop domestic comps fell 7.5% in Q2 2026 with pressure concentrated in urban trade areas — precisely where a California-heavy portfolio sits. A private-equity-backed operator with a 51-unit development commitment into a negative-comp environment is the situation most likely to produce either aggressive site take-downs or a pipeline renegotiation." }, { "slug": "guernsey-holdings", "name": "Guernsey Holdings", "hq": "Not disclosed", "brands": [ "Zaxby's", "Sonic Drive-In", "Little Caesars", "7 Brew", "Meineke", "Take 5 Oil Change" ], "chickenBrands": [ "Zaxby's" ], "chickenUnits": 20, "totalUnits": null, "geography": [ "South Carolina" ], "status": "Acquiring", "facts": [ { "text": "Acquired 20 Zaxby's restaurants in South Carolina", "asOf": "2025", "src": "rbo-guernsey-zaxbys" }, { "text": "Also operates Sonic Drive-In, Little Caesars and 7 Brew locations plus Meineke and Take 5 Oil Change automotive franchises", "asOf": "2025", "src": "rbo-guernsey-zaxbys" } ], "analysis": "A multi-brand, multi-sector franchisee adding chicken to a portfolio that already spans QSR, coffee and automotive services. This is the profile Zaxby's is recruiting as it moves into the Midwest and Northeast — operators who bring capital and infrastructure rather than brand familiarity." }, { "slug": "ampex-brands", "name": "Ampex Brands", "hq": "Richardson, TX", "brands": [ "KFC", "Pizza Hut", "Taco Bell", "7-Eleven", "Au Bon Pain" ], "chickenBrands": [ "KFC" ], "chickenUnits": null, "totalUnits": 600, "geography": [ "Texas", "Multi-state" ], "status": "Stable / diversifying", "facts": [ { "text": "Approximately 600 locations with revenue close to $500M; ranked 14th among the nation's largest multi-brand franchisees", "asOf": "2026", "src": "franchising-mb50-2026" }, { "text": "Texas-based franchisee of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and 7-Eleven; acquired Au Bon Pain from Panera in 2021", "asOf": "2021", "src": "cnbc-ampex" }, { "text": "President and CEO Tabbassum Mumtaz", "asOf": "2026", "src": "cnbc-ampex" } ], "analysis": "A 600-unit Texas platform with meaningful KFC exposure and a demonstrated willingness to move up the stack — Ampex bought a brand (Au Bon Pain) rather than just more units. Operators who cross from franchisee to franchisor are the ones most likely to be interested in acquiring a regional chicken concept outright." }, { "slug": "sxthree", "name": "SXThree Restaurant Group", "hq": "Central Texas", "brands": [ "Golden Chick" ], "chickenBrands": [ "Golden Chick" ], "chickenUnits": 20, "totalUnits": 20, "geography": [ "Central Texas", "Alabama", "Mississippi" ], "status": "Actively developing", "facts": [ { "text": "Largest Golden Chick operator with 20 locations in central Texas", "asOf": "2025", "src": "qsr-golden-sxthree" }, { "text": "Targeting 100 Golden Chick restaurants by 2030", "asOf": "2025", "src": "ft-golden-sxthree" }, { "text": "Signed new development agreements in Alabama and Mississippi and extended prior deals in Texas and Alabama; expanded a Hattiesburg, MS commitment from three units to six", "asOf": "2025", "src": "ft-golden-sxthree" }, { "text": "Led by CEO Jim Stevens", "asOf": "2025", "src": "ft-golden-sxthree" } ], "analysis": "Twenty units today, a stated target of 100 by 2030, and signed agreements spanning three states. If SXThree executes even half of that plan, it will require roughly 40 new sites in Texas, Alabama and Mississippi over five years — one operator generating a decade of site-selection and development work." }, { "slug": "korpal-group", "name": "Korpal Group", "hq": "Southeast Texas", "brands": [ "Golden Chick", "Subway" ], "chickenBrands": [ "Golden Chick" ], "chickenUnits": 13, "chickenUnitsNote": "Committed under development agreement", "totalUnits": null, "geography": [ "Greater Houston", "Beaumont", "Southeast Texas" ], "status": "Actively developing", "facts": [ { "text": "Signed a 13-unit Golden Chick development agreement — 10 units in the greater Houston market over four years and three in Beaumont over ten years", "asOf": "2026", "src": "ft-korpal" }, { "text": "Led by brothers Karan and Raj Korpal, second-generation franchise operators whose parents ran 22 Subway franchises in Southeast Texas", "asOf": "2026", "src": "entrepreneur-korpal" } ], "analysis": "A textbook second-generation conversion: a family that built a 22-unit Subway business redeploying into a higher-AUV chicken concept with a 13-unit commitment across Houston and Beaumont. Ten Houston sites over four years is a real, dated pipeline — and it is the kind of commitment that gets made before the sites are secured." }, { "slug": "scottish-food-systems", "name": "Scottish Food Systems", "hq": "North Carolina", "brands": [ "KFC" ], "chickenBrands": [ "KFC" ], "chickenUnits": null, "totalUnits": null, "geography": [ "North Carolina", "South Carolina" ], "status": "Divesting", "facts": [ { "text": "Sold 28 KFC restaurants in North Carolina and South Carolina to KBP Brands", "asOf": "2024", "src": "ft-kbp-28" } ], "analysis": "A legacy Carolinas KFC operator selling a 28-unit package to the system's largest franchisee. This is the consolidation pattern running through the entire KFC franchisee base — legacy families exiting, KBP and a small number of platforms absorbing." }, { "slug": "sun-holdings", "name": "Sun Holdings", "hq": "Texas", "brands": [], "chickenBrands": [], "chickenUnits": null, "totalUnits": 1680, "geography": [ "Texas", "Multi-state" ], "status": "Acquiring", "facts": [ { "text": "1,680 units — among the largest multi-brand franchisee portfolios in the U.S.", "asOf": "2026", "src": "franchising-mb50-2026" } ], "analysis": "One of the two largest multi-brand franchisee platforms in the country by unit count. Included here as a scale reference point for what the top of the operator market looks like; CSW is tracking its chicken-brand exposure and will publish it when independently confirmed." } ], "news": [ { "date": "2026-08", "cat": "Brands", "brand": "popeyes", "title": "Popeyes U.S. comps fall 5.2% in Q2 2026 — a sixth straight negative quarter", "src": "rd-bk-popeyes-q2", "means": "The decline moderated from -6.5% in Q1, which management will present as progress. It isn't recovery. Six consecutive negative quarters at ~$235K of restaurant-level profit is a franchisee solvency timeline, not a marketing problem — and the Sailormen bankruptcy already showed what the end of that timeline looks like." }, { "date": "2026-07-29", "cat": "Brands", "brand": "wingstop", "title": "Wingstop domestic same-store sales drop 7.5%; full-year guidance cut to -4% to -6%", "src": "wing-q2-2026", "means": "Wingstop opened 102 restaurants in the same quarter its comps fell 7.5%. That is the definition of a development machine outrunning its demand curve. With AUV already down from $2.1M to $2.0M, every new urban unit is now splitting a shrinking digital order base — and franchisee-credit Wingstop net-lease product should be underwritten on that math, not on WING's balance sheet." }, { "date": "2026-07", "cat": "Brands", "brand": "kfc", "title": "KFC has closed more than 300 U.S. restaurants in twelve months", "src": "thestreet-kfc-300", "means": "312 closures between July 2025 and July 2026 — 7.64% of the American footprint. Read it as inventory, not obituary: three hundred freestanding, drive-thru-equipped boxes in trade areas that have supported chicken for decades just came back to the market, most of them controlled by legacy franchisees with no interest in redevelopment." }, { "date": "2026-07-13", "cat": "Real Estate", "brand": "chick-fil-a", "title": "New-construction Chick-fil-A ground lease trades at a 4.15% cap — a Tennessee record", "src": "chattanoogan-cfa", "means": "$2.77M for a 6,008 SF relocation store on 1.74 acres in Hixson, on a 15-year corporate absolute-NNN ground lease with 10% bumps. The lowest cap rate ever recorded for a single-tenant Chick-fil-A drive-thru in Tennessee, per CoStar — and it was achieved on a shorter-than-standard term. Chick-fil-A ground leases are now priced closer to bonds than to restaurants." }, { "date": "2026-07", "cat": "Real Estate", "title": "Net lease cap rates tick up: corporate QSR 5.85%, franchisee QSR 6.85%", "src": "boulder-q2-2026", "means": "The 100 basis point spread between corporate and franchisee QSR is the single most important number in chicken real estate. It is the market pricing exactly what CSW tracks: who actually operates the restaurant. In a year with a major Popeyes franchisee bankruptcy, expect that spread to widen — and to widen most for brands with negative comps." }, { "date": "2026-07", "cat": "Development", "brand": "zaxbys", "title": "Zaxby's opens its first New York City restaurant in the Bronx", "src": "rd-zaxbys-nyc", "means": "A Southeast chicken brand with a 3,500 SF suburban dine-in DNA is now operating in the Bronx, with a 2,800 SF, 16-seat Upper East Side unit behind it. If the small-format Northeast box clears anywhere near the $2.71M system AUV, Zaxby's franchise recruiting stops being a regional pitch." }, { "date": "2026-06-15", "cat": "Brands", "brand": "kfc", "title": "KFC leans into boneless chicken, wings and sauces as U.S. comps turn positive", "src": "cnbc-kfc-menu", "means": "Three consecutive quarters of positive comps after seven negative ones, on the back of spicy wings and returning potato wedges. KFC is finally competing on the parts of the bird the market actually wants instead of defending the bucket. The turnaround is real — it is just happening across 3,523 restaurants instead of 3,669." }, { "date": "2026-06-24", "cat": "Franchising", "brand": "houston-tx-hot-chicken", "title": "Houston TX Hot Chicken enters the UK through a PizzaExpress franchise agreement", "src": "rn-houstontx-uk", "means": "Three UK locations in 2026 and 50 over three years — but the structure is the story. Partnering with an established operator platform rather than recruiting franchisees is how a 25-unit American brand gets international scale without international infrastructure." }, { "date": "2026-06", "cat": "Operators", "title": "Multi-Brand 50: KBP Brands reaches 1,224 units and 831 KFCs", "src": "franchising-mb50-2026", "means": "One operator controls roughly a quarter of the U.S. KFC system while the brand closes 300 restaurants a year. KBP is simultaneously the largest buyer and the largest potential seller in KFC real estate — and it has already diversified into Arby's and Sonic, which tells you how it reads the brand's long-term U.S. trajectory." }, { "date": "2026-05", "cat": "Operators", "brand": "popeyes", "title": "Bankrupt Popeyes franchisee Sailormen sells 97 restaurants for $16.55M to five buyers", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97", "means": "Read the per-store prices: Popeyes corporate paid $600K per restaurant for 16 Miami units; 61 Biscuits paid $370K per restaurant in West Palm Beach; Pulse paid about $54K per restaurant for 50 units across Tampa, Tallahassee, Pensacola and Jacksonville. That spread is a live map of where Popeyes trade areas still work and where they don't. Thirty-three restaurants found no buyer at all and went dark through lease rejection." }, { "date": "2026-04", "cat": "Development", "brand": "daves-hot-chicken", "title": "Dave's Hot Chicken opens eight restaurants in a single day", "src": "ifa-daves-eight", "means": "With 150+ openings planned for 2026 and roughly 1,000 units in development, Dave's is consuming drive-thru pad sites faster than any brand in the category. It is now the marginal bidder on a large share of American QSR real estate — and the reason second-generation chicken boxes are clearing quickly." }, { "date": "2026-03", "cat": "Brands", "brand": "raising-canes", "title": "Raising Cane's opens its 1,000th restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard", "src": "qsr-canes-london", "means": "A thousand restaurants, virtually all company-operated, at a $6.3M AUV. There is no franchisee base to consolidate, no operator distress to trade, and no franchise transfers to broker — Cane's growth creates real estate opportunity only at the site-selection and sale-leaseback stage. Get in early or don't get in." }, { "date": "2026-03-12", "cat": "Brands", "brand": "el-pollo-loco", "title": "El Pollo Loco closes fiscal 2025 at $1.13B in system-wide sales", "src": "loco-q4-2025", "means": "Flat full-year comps (+0.1%) with a Q4 acceleration to +2.1% and a 17.8% restaurant contribution margin. Healthy unit economics, minimal unit growth — nine openings against a 500-restaurant base. LOCO is a margin story, not a development story." }, { "date": "2026-02-18", "cat": "Brands", "brand": "wingstop", "title": "Wingstop closes fiscal 2025 with 3,056 restaurants and $5.3B in system-wide sales", "src": "wing-fy25", "means": "493 net new units, 19.2% unit growth, 12.1% systemwide sales growth — and AUV down to $2.0M. The 2025 report contained the warning that the 2026 comps confirmed: system sales were growing on unit count, not on restaurant-level demand." }, { "date": "2026-02-12", "cat": "Brands", "brand": "popeyes", "title": "RBI: Popeyes U.S. comps -3.2% for 2025; franchisee profitability falls to ~$235,000", "src": "cnbc-rbi-q4-2025", "means": "The $235K figure is the most consequential number RBI disclosed. At that level, a franchisee carrying acquisition debt across 100 units cannot service it. Sailormen filed in January. Assume more filings follow before comps turn." }, { "date": "2026-02", "cat": "Brands", "brand": "zaxbys", "title": "Zaxby's surpasses 1,000 locations", "src": "ifa-zaxbys-1000", "means": "From 969 units at the end of 2024 to more than 1,000, with a projected $2.8B in system sales and a $2.71M AUV — the third-highest unit volume in the category behind Chick-fil-A and Cane's. Zaxby's has quietly become the strongest franchised chicken investment outside the top two." }, { "date": "2026-01", "cat": "Operators", "brand": "popeyes", "title": "Sailormen, one of Popeyes' largest franchisees, files Chapter 11 with 136 restaurants", "src": "rbo-sailormen-bk", "means": "3,300 employees, $233.5M of fiscal 2025 revenue, 136 restaurants across Florida and Georgia — gone as a going concern within twelve months of the franchisor reporting $235K average restaurant profit. The largest single distress event in chicken franchising this cycle." }, { "date": "2026-01", "cat": "Franchising", "brand": "golden-chick", "title": "Korpal Group signs a 13-unit Golden Chick development agreement for Houston and Beaumont", "src": "ft-korpal", "means": "Ten Houston units over four years and three in Beaumont over ten. Second-generation Subway operators redeploying family capital into a higher-AUV chicken concept is the single most common pattern in Texas chicken development right now — and it means ten Houston sites need to be found, entitled and built by an operator who does not yet control them." }, { "date": "2026-01", "cat": "Supply Chain", "title": "Wholesale wings close 2025 at $0.98/lb, roughly half the prior year's $1.88", "src": "southernag-prices", "means": "Boneless skinless breast also fell to $1.16/lb from a mid-year peak of $2.77. Cheap wings are a margin windfall for Wingstop franchisees at exactly the moment their traffic is falling — which is why Wingstop's Q2 2026 net income rose 16.9% while same-store sales fell 7.5%. Commodity relief is masking demand deterioration across the category." }, { "date": "2026-01", "cat": "Franchising", "brand": "laynes-chicken-fingers", "title": "Layne's Chicken Fingers doubles its footprint to 40 units and adds 10 new franchisees", "src": "pr-laynes-2025", "means": "21 openings in one year, 68 restaurants under signed agreements including a single 44-store Texas deal, and franchisees arriving from Wendy's and Arby's systems. When experienced multi-unit operators underwrite a 40-unit brand, they are buying prototype economics, not brand equity." }, { "date": "2026", "cat": "Franchising", "brand": "slim-chickens", "title": "Slim Chickens signs 110 development agreements in 2025; pipeline passes 1,200 restaurants", "src": "qsr-slim-2026", "means": "A 4:1 ratio of committed pipeline to open restaurants is the highest in the category. It is also the number most likely to be discounted — signed area development agreements convert at well under 100%. Hiring a former Starbucks site-strategy executive as CDO says leadership knows the constraint is real estate throughput, not demand." }, { "date": "2026", "cat": "Brands", "brand": "chick-fil-a", "title": "Chick-fil-A systemwide sales approach $24 billion on a $9.16M average unit volume", "src": "qsr-cfa-24b", "means": "$23.9B, +5.2%, on 2,863 outlets plus 435 licensed venues. Six operating days a week. The growth came from 179 new restaurants rather than same-store volume, which is why the $1B international commitment and the licensed channel are now the strategic priorities — the domestic drive-thru is running out of hours in the day." }, { "date": "2026", "cat": "Brands", "brand": "churchs-texas-chicken", "title": "Church's Texas Chicken adds units and lifts AUV to $1.138M", "src": "ft-church-2025", "means": "885 U.S. stores entering 2026 and a third straight year of AUV growth off a ~$1.0M base. Church's has stopped shrinking. It remains the lowest-volume national chicken brand by a wide margin, which caps what any Church's site can pay in rent — underwrite accordingly." }, { "date": "2026", "cat": "Development", "brand": "churchs-texas-chicken", "title": "Church's plots a 600-unit China expansion under the Texas Chicken brand", "src": "rd-church-china", "means": "The U.S. system grew by 12 units in 2025. The international pipeline is measured in hundreds. For a value-positioned brand with a $1.1M domestic AUV, that allocation of ambition is entirely rational — and it tells U.S. franchisees where the franchisor's attention is going." }, { "date": "2026", "cat": "Development", "brand": "golden-chick", "title": "Golden Chick opens its 250th restaurant after a record 23 openings in 2025", "src": "qsr-golden-250", "means": "A 60-year-old Texas brand having its best development year ever, with entries planned for Nevada, Arkansas, Missouri and Arizona. Golden Chick's growth is concentrated in a handful of operator families — SXThree alone is targeting 100 units by 2030 — which makes the operator list, not the brand, the real pipeline." }, { "date": "2026", "cat": "Consumer", "title": "Technomic: chicken chain sales growth slows to 5.3% in 2025", "src": "rbo-chicken-slows", "means": "Down from 9.1% in 2024 and more than 12% in 2023 — still comfortably ahead of the 3% industry, but the era of automatic double-digit chicken growth is over. Category-wide, growth is now being redistributed rather than created: Dave's, Cane's and Zaxby's are taking it out of KFC, Popeyes and Jollibee." }, { "date": "2026", "cat": "Consumer", "title": "USDA: per-capita chicken availability hits a record 102.8 lbs in 2026", "src": "usda-ers-percapita", "means": "Chicken remains the most consumed animal protein in the United States and is still growing. The demand backdrop is not the problem for Popeyes, KFC or Wingstop. Share is." }, { "date": "2026", "cat": "Brands", "brand": "jollibee-us", "title": "Jollibee closes 200+ stores in the first half of 2026 and cuts its opening target", "src": "thestreet-jollibee", "means": "The group trimmed 2026 openings to 1,000–1,100 from 1,200–1,300. When an aggressive international operator pulls in its development horns, it is usually reading consumer softness ahead of the domestic brands." }, { "date": "2026", "cat": "Real Estate", "title": "Four Corners Property Trust acquires 33 properties for $85.5M in the first half of 2026", "src": "fcpt-10q-q2-2026", "means": "FCPT is the most visible institutional buyer in restaurant net lease and has bought Popeyes assets with ~20 years of term. Its acquisition pace is a useful proxy for where institutional capital thinks restaurant real estate is priced correctly — and its 2026 buying has skewed heavily toward non-restaurant service retail." }, { "date": "2025-06", "cat": "M&A", "brand": "daves-hot-chicken", "title": "Roark Capital acquires a majority stake in Dave's Hot Chicken at a $1B valuation", "src": "cnbc-daves-roark", "means": "A 245-unit brand valued at $1B — roughly $4M per restaurant, against domestic systemwide sales of $617M. Roark underwrote the development pipeline, not the current cash flow. Everything Dave's has done since (150+ openings in 2026, eight in a single day, ~1,000 in development) is that thesis being executed." }, { "date": "2025-06", "cat": "M&A", "brand": "hooters", "title": "Hooters sells all 151 company restaurants to franchisee groups in Chapter 11", "src": "rd-hooters", "means": "Filed with $376M of debt, closed roughly 30 restaurants in a single day, and emerged as a fully franchisee-owned system. The operating brand survives; what hit the market was a batch of 4,500–6,500 SF casual-dining pads that will not re-tenant as chicken. They re-tenant as something bigger." }, { "date": "2025", "cat": "M&A", "brand": "bojangles", "title": "Eyas Capital acquires BOJ of WNC — Bojangles' largest franchisee, 120 units in six states", "src": "rd-eyas-boj", "means": "Jeff Rigsby went from six Asheville restaurants in 2001 to the brand's largest franchisee, then sold to an investment platform that immediately committed to 40+ new units in Ohio. Bojangles' unit count did not move. Ownership of 120 restaurants did. That is exactly the transaction that brand-level data will never show you." }, { "date": "2025", "cat": "Brands", "brand": "kfc", "title": "KFC moves its U.S. headquarters from Louisville to Plano, Texas", "src": "nrn-kfc-hq", "means": "Roughly 100 corporate roles relocating over six months, 90 remote roles over 18. Symbolically, the brand most identified with a single American state left it. Practically, it consolidates KFC U.S. alongside KFC Global and Pizza Hut Global in Plano — and puts the U.S. team in the same metro as a large share of its franchisee base." } ], "transactions": { "property": [ { "date": "2026-07", "type": "Property sale", "brand": "Chick-fil-A", "location": "5979 TN-153, Hixson (Chattanooga), TN", "price": 2770000, "capRate": 4.15, "term": "15-year corporate absolute-NNN ground lease", "detail": "New-construction 6,008 SF relocation store on 1.74 acres; 10% rent increases every five years, ten 5-year options. Lowest cap rate ever recorded for a single-tenant Chick-fil-A drive-thru in Tennessee per CoStar. RealSource Group represented the buyer.", "src": "citybiz-cfa-hixson" }, { "date": "2026-08", "type": "Property sale", "brand": "Popeyes", "location": "Naugatuck, CT", "price": 1746000, "capRate": null, "term": null, "detail": "Single-tenant Popeyes sale.", "src": "topnetlease-popeyes" }, { "date": "2025", "type": "Property sale", "brand": "Raising Cane's", "location": "Not disclosed", "price": 6840000, "capRate": 4.75, "term": "15-year corporate-guaranteed absolute-NNN ground lease", "detail": "Ground lease sale arranged by SRS and JLL.", "src": "connectcre-canes-gl" }, { "date": "2026", "type": "Portfolio acquisition", "brand": "Popeyes", "location": "Not disclosed", "price": 4700000, "capRate": null, "term": "~20 years remaining", "detail": "Four Corners Property Trust acquired two Popeyes properties.", "src": "topnetlease-popeyes" }, { "date": "2026", "type": "Listing", "brand": "Zaxby's", "location": "Midwest City, OK", "price": 2111597, "capRate": 7.42, "term": null, "detail": "Marketed NNN investment offering.", "src": "bullrealty-zaxbys" }, { "date": "2023", "type": "Property sale", "brand": "Popeyes", "location": "South Carolina", "price": 1600000, "capRate": null, "term": null, "detail": "High-traffic South Carolina Popeyes property.", "src": "qsrweb-popeyes-sc" } ], "corporate": [ { "date": "2025-06", "type": "Brand acquisition", "target": "Dave's Hot Chicken", "acquirer": "Roark Capital", "value": 1000000000, "detail": "Majority stake acquired in a deal valued at approximately $1B; the brand had 245 units and $617M in domestic systemwide sales in 2024.", "src": "cnbc-daves-roark", "brand": "", "location": "" }, { "date": "2025", "type": "Franchisee portfolio", "target": "BOJ of WNC (120 Bojangles units, six states)", "acquirer": "Eyas Capital", "value": null, "detail": "Bojangles' largest franchise group. Acquisition took Eyas Capital past 350 total franchise units; commitment to grow Cincinnati and Columbus past 40 locations.", "src": "rd-eyas-boj", "brand": "", "location": "" }, { "date": "2026", "type": "Bankruptcy sale", "target": "Sailormen, Inc. — 97 Popeyes restaurants", "acquirer": "Five buyers", "value": 16550000, "detail": "Pulse Restaurant Group 50 units / $2.69M; RFI Ventures 23 units / $2.5M; Popeyes corporate 16 units / $9.6M; SBH Foods PLK 5 units / $650K; 61 Biscuits 3 units / $1.11M. Approximately 33 additional locations closed via lease rejection.", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97", "brand": "", "location": "" }, { "date": "2025", "type": "Chapter 11 / company-store sale", "target": "Hooters of America — 151 company restaurants", "acquirer": "Two franchisee groups (Tampa- and Chicago-based)", "value": null, "detail": "Chapter 11 filed March 31, 2025 citing $376M of debt; roughly 30 locations closed effective June 4, 2025. Post-emergence plan moves the system to fully franchisee-owned.", "src": "rd-hooters", "brand": "", "location": "" }, { "date": "2024", "type": "Franchisee portfolio", "target": "28 KFC restaurants (NC/SC)", "acquirer": "KBP Brands", "value": null, "detail": "Acquired from Scottish Food Systems.", "src": "ft-kbp-28", "brand": "", "location": "" }, { "date": "2025", "type": "Franchisee portfolio", "target": "20 Zaxby's restaurants (South Carolina)", "acquirer": "Guernsey Holdings", "value": null, "detail": "Multi-brand franchisee adding chicken alongside Sonic, Little Caesars, 7 Brew, Meineke and Take 5.", "src": "rbo-guernsey-zaxbys", "brand": "", "location": "" }, { "date": "2023-11", "type": "Growth investment", "target": "Far West Services (Wingstop franchisee)", "acquirer": "Brentwood Associates and Sixth Street", "value": null, "detail": "Significant growth investment in partnership with existing management; the operator ran 127 Wingstop locations with 51 more planned.", "src": "sixthstreet-farwest", "brand": "", "location": "" }, { "date": "2025-2026", "type": "Franchisee portfolio", "target": "167 Sonic Drive-In units (two rounds)", "acquirer": "KBP Brands", "value": null, "detail": "Diversification by the nation's largest KFC franchisee beyond the Yum! Brands system.", "src": "franchising-mb50-2026", "brand": "", "location": "" } ] }, "realestate": { "benchmarks": [ { "label": "Corporate-guaranteed QSR", "value": "5.85%", "change": "+3 bps QoQ", "asOf": "Q2 2026", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" }, { "label": "Franchisee-guaranteed QSR", "value": "6.85%", "change": "+5 bps QoQ", "asOf": "Q2 2026", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" }, { "label": "All single-tenant net lease", "value": "6.80%", "change": "-1 bp QoQ", "asOf": "Q1 2026", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" }, { "label": "Single-tenant retail", "value": "6.55%", "asOf": "Q1 2026", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" }, { "label": "Premium QSR ground lease (McDonald's / Chick-fil-A)", "value": "4.45%", "asOf": "Q2 2026", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" } ], "brandCapRates": [ { "brand": "Chick-fil-A", "slug": "chick-fil-a", "range": "4.20% – 4.50%", "structure": "15-year ground lease, asking", "src": "boulder-tenant-q1-2026" }, { "brand": "McDonald's (reference)", "slug": null, "range": "4.30% – 4.60%", "structure": "15-year ground lease, asking", "src": "boulder-tenant-q1-2026" }, { "brand": "Raising Cane's", "slug": "raising-canes", "range": "4.70% – 5.00%", "structure": "15-year ground lease; ~5.00% asking Q1 2026", "src": "boulder-canes" }, { "brand": "Popeyes", "slug": "popeyes", "range": "5.10% – 6.80% (avg ~5.80%)", "structure": "Marketed 15–20 year NNN, franchisee credit", "src": "topnetlease-popeyes" }, { "brand": "Zaxby's", "slug": "zaxbys", "range": "Marketed to 7.42%", "structure": "Single marketed offering, Midwest City OK", "src": "bullrealty-zaxbys" }, { "brand": "Franchisee QSR (KFC, Wingstop, Bojangles, Church's, Slim Chickens, Golden Chick and peers)", "slug": null, "range": "6.85% benchmark", "structure": "Franchisee-guaranteed QSR asking cap rate", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" } ], "leaseIntel": [ { "label": "Chick-fil-A", "text": "20-year corporate absolute-NNN ground lease is standard; the record-setting Hixson TN deal was a shorter 15-year term with 10% increases every five years and ten 5-year options.", "src": "citybiz-cfa-hixson" }, { "label": "Raising Cane's", "text": "Typically a 20-year absolute-NNN ground lease with 10% rent increases every five years, corporate guaranteed — landlord has no roof, structure, parking or management obligation.", "src": "boulder-canes" }, { "label": "Popeyes", "text": "15–20 year initial terms with 7.5%–10% rent bumps every five years; historical pricing band roughly $1.2M–$4.1M per asset.", "src": "topnetlease-popeyes" }, { "label": "Dave's Hot Chicken", "text": "New-construction drive-thru prototypes on 15-year absolute-NNN leases with 10% increases every five years.", "src": "rbo-roark-daves" }, { "label": "Credit spread", "text": "The corporate-to-franchisee QSR spread stood at 100 basis points in Q2 2026 (5.85% vs 6.85%). Short-term, non-rated restaurant tenants can trade 200–300 bps wider than premium ground leases.", "src": "boulder-tenant-q1-2026" } ], "supply": [ { "label": "KFC", "text": "312 U.S. closures in the twelve months to July 2026 (-7.64% of the footprint); 161 closures in calendar 2025 against 15 openings.", "src": "thestreet-kfc-300" }, { "label": "Popeyes", "text": "Roughly 33 Sailormen locations went dark through lease rejection in the 2026 Chapter 11 across Florida and Georgia.", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" }, { "label": "Hooters", "text": "Roughly 30 restaurants closed effective June 4, 2025 across FL, GA, MI, NC, SC, TN and TX — large-format casual-dining pads, 4,500–6,500 SF.", "src": "rd-hooters" }, { "label": "Church's Texas Chicken", "text": "12 units ceased operations in 2025 (after 20 in 2024 and nine the year prior), plus one franchise termination and one corporate closure.", "src": "ft-church-2025" }, { "label": "Jollibee", "text": "More than 200 stores closed group-wide in the first half of 2026 with the 2026 opening target cut to 1,000–1,100.", "src": "thestreet-jollibee" } ], "marketConditions": [ { "text": "Single-tenant property supply jumped 12.5% quarter-over-quarter in Q2 2026 to nearly 5,800 available properties, with retail listings up 16.2%.", "src": "boulder-q2-2026" }, { "text": "Boulder Group's Q1 2026 Net Lease Tenant Profiles report covered 87 tenants with asking cap rates as of March 2026, ranging from 4.30% for 15-year McDonald's ground leases to 9.00%+ for short-term Walgreens.", "src": "boulder-tenant-q1-2026" }, { "text": "Four Corners Property Trust acquired 33 properties for $85.5M in the first half of 2026 (10 for $26.8M in Q1, 23 for $57.2M in Q2).", "src": "fcpt-10q-q2-2026" } ] }, "expansion": [ { "announced": "2026", "brand": "daves-hot-chicken", "brandName": "Dave's Hot Chicken", "operator": null, "market": "National + international", "units": 1000, "unitsLabel": "~1,000 in development", "timeline": "Ongoing; 150+ openings planned in 2026", "src": "ifa-daves-eight" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "slim-chickens", "brandName": "Slim Chickens", "operator": "Multiple franchisees (110 agreements signed in 2025)", "market": "IL, OH, PA, NY, MA, NJ, CT + Europe, Asia, GCC", "units": 1200, "unitsLabel": "1,200+ pipeline", "timeline": "Multi-year", "src": "qsr-slim-2026" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "chick-fil-a", "brandName": "Chick-fil-A", "operator": "Company", "market": "United States", "units": 100, "unitsLabel": "100+ in 2026", "timeline": "2026", "src": "qsr-cfa-24b" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "raising-canes", "brandName": "Raising Cane's", "operator": "Company", "market": "National", "units": 100, "unitsLabel": "~100 in 2026", "timeline": "2026; 1,600-restaurant long-term goal", "src": "nrn-canes-openings" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "raising-canes", "brandName": "Raising Cane's", "operator": "Company", "market": "London, UK", "units": 1, "unitsLabel": "Flagship + additional West End, Strand, Oxford Circus, Paddington, South Bank sites", "timeline": "2026", "src": "rd-canes-london" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "zaxbys", "brandName": "Zaxby's", "operator": "Multiple franchisees", "market": "National (Midwest / Northeast focus)", "units": 60, "unitsLabel": "60+ openings in 2026", "timeline": "2026; goal of 100 per year", "src": "rd-zaxbys-nyc" }, { "announced": "2025", "brand": "bojangles", "brandName": "Bojangles", "operator": "eyas-capital", "market": "Cincinnati and Columbus, OH", "units": 40, "unitsLabel": "40+", "timeline": "Multi-year", "src": "rd-eyas-boj" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "bojangles", "brandName": "Bojangles", "operator": null, "market": "San Antonio, TX", "units": 21, "unitsLabel": "21-unit agreement", "timeline": "Multi-year; 18 TX units open and ~20 in development", "src": "qsr-bojangles-portability" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "golden-chick", "brandName": "Golden Chick", "operator": "korpal-group", "market": "Greater Houston and Beaumont, TX", "units": 13, "unitsLabel": "13-unit development agreement", "timeline": "10 Houston units over four years; three Beaumont units over ten years", "src": "ft-korpal" }, { "announced": "2025", "brand": "golden-chick", "brandName": "Golden Chick", "operator": "sxthree", "market": "Central Texas, Alabama, Mississippi", "units": 100, "unitsLabel": "100 units targeted by 2030", "timeline": "Through 2030", "src": "ft-golden-sxthree" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "golden-chick", "brandName": "Golden Chick", "operator": null, "market": "Nevada, Arkansas, Missouri, Arizona", "units": null, "unitsLabel": "New state entries", "timeline": "Opening soon", "src": "qsr-golden-250" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "laynes-chicken-fingers", "brandName": "Layne's Chicken Fingers", "operator": null, "market": "Texas + national", "units": 68, "unitsLabel": "68 restaurants under agreement incl. a 44-store Texas deal and 15-unit Wisconsin deal", "timeline": "Up to 45 openings in 2026; 300 units by 2030", "src": "pr-laynes-2025" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "huey-magoos", "brandName": "Huey Magoo's", "operator": null, "market": "Southeast + expansion markets", "units": 100, "unitsLabel": "100 restaurants", "timeline": "2026", "src": "rd-huey" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "houston-tx-hot-chicken", "brandName": "Houston TX Hot Chicken", "operator": null, "market": "Illinois (11), Louisiana (5), Arkansas (5), New York (5)", "units": 26, "unitsLabel": "26 franchise commitments", "timeline": "15–20 openings in 2026; 50–60 per year thereafter", "src": "rn-houstontx" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "houston-tx-hot-chicken", "brandName": "Houston TX Hot Chicken", "operator": "PizzaExpress (European master franchisee)", "market": "United Kingdom", "units": 50, "unitsLabel": "50 over three years", "timeline": "Three locations in 2026", "src": "rn-houstontx-uk" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "churchs-texas-chicken", "brandName": "Church's Texas Chicken", "operator": "Deke Shengtang (master franchisee)", "market": "China", "units": 600, "unitsLabel": "600 units", "timeline": "Multi-year", "src": "rd-church-china" }, { "announced": "2025", "brand": "churchs-texas-chicken", "brandName": "Texas Chicken (international)", "operator": null, "market": "Europe and beyond", "units": 900, "unitsLabel": "900 units planned", "timeline": "Near future", "src": "rd-church-china" }, { "announced": "2025", "brand": "chick-fil-a", "brandName": "Chick-fil-A", "operator": "Company", "market": "United Kingdom / Singapore", "units": 5, "unitsLabel": "5 UK restaurants in first two years; Singapore entry", "timeline": "$100M UK over 10 years; $75M Singapore over 10 years; five international markets by 2030", "src": "wattagnet-cfa-intl" }, { "announced": "2025", "brand": "krispy-krunchy-chicken", "brandName": "Krispy Krunchy Chicken", "operator": null, "market": "National (c-store foodservice retrofits)", "units": 500, "unitsLabel": "~150 retrofit sites by end-2026, ~300 by 2028, ~500 by 2030", "timeline": "Through 2030", "src": "rd-krispy-2025" }, { "announced": "2026", "brand": "pollo-campero", "brandName": "Pollo Campero", "operator": null, "market": "United States", "units": 250, "unitsLabel": "250 U.S. units targeted", "timeline": "Five-year plan from a 90-unit base", "src": "rd-campero" } ], "movement": { "openings": [ { "date": "2026-07", "brand": "zaxbys", "brandName": "Zaxby's", "location": "Upper East Side, Manhattan, NY", "detail": "1267 First Avenue; 2,800+ SF with 16 dine-in seats and self-order kiosks.", "src": "co-zaxbys-nyc" }, { "date": "2026-06-29", "brand": "zaxbys", "brandName": "Zaxby's", "location": "Bronx, NY", "detail": "First Zaxby's restaurant in New York City; 24th state for the brand.", "src": "rd-zaxbys-nyc" }, { "date": "2026-04", "brand": "daves-hot-chicken", "brandName": "Dave's Hot Chicken", "location": "Eight U.S. markets in one day", "detail": "Brand record: eight restaurants opened on a single day, pushing the system past 400 locations worldwide.", "src": "ifa-daves-eight" }, { "date": "2026-03", "brand": "raising-canes", "brandName": "Raising Cane's", "location": "Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA", "detail": "1,000th Raising Cane's — two stories, LED screens and a seven-foot golden statue of Cane III.", "src": "qsr-canes-london" }, { "date": "2026", "brand": "golden-chick", "brandName": "Golden Chick", "location": "Little Elm, TX", "detail": "250th restaurant, following a record 23 openings in 2025.", "src": "qsr-golden-250" }, { "date": "2025-12", "brand": "zaxbys", "brandName": "Zaxby's", "location": "Magnolia, NJ", "detail": "First New Jersey location and the brand's Northeast debut.", "src": "rd-zaxbys-nyc" }, { "date": "2025", "brand": "el-pollo-loco", "brandName": "El Pollo Loco", "location": "Colorado Springs, CO", "detail": "500th El Pollo Loco restaurant; nine openings in 2025.", "src": "loco-q4-2025" }, { "date": "2025-05", "brand": "chicken-salad-chick", "brandName": "Chicken Salad Chick", "location": "United States", "detail": "300th location; unit count up 13% year over year.", "src": "rd-csc-300" }, { "date": "2025-01", "brand": "bojangles", "brandName": "Bojangles", "location": "Las Vegas, NV", "detail": "First Las Vegas restaurant with four more planned.", "src": "qsr-bojangles-portability" }, { "date": "2026-02", "brand": "zaxbys", "brandName": "Zaxby's", "location": "National", "detail": "Brand surpassed 1,000 locations.", "src": "ifa-zaxbys-1000" } ], "closures": [ { "date": "2025-07 to 2026-07", "brand": "kfc", "brandName": "KFC", "location": "United States", "count": 312, "detail": "312 U.S. restaurants permanently closed in twelve months — 7.64% of the American footprint.", "src": "thestreet-kfc-300" }, { "date": "2025", "brand": "kfc", "brandName": "KFC", "location": "United States", "count": 161, "detail": "161 U.S. closures against 15 openings; U.S. count fell from 3,669 to 3,523.", "src": "thestreet-kfc-207" }, { "date": "2026-Q1", "brand": "kfc", "brandName": "KFC", "location": "United States", "count": 46, "detail": "46 additional closures in the first quarter of 2026.", "src": "thestreet-kfc-207" }, { "date": "2026", "brand": "popeyes", "brandName": "Popeyes", "location": "Florida and Georgia", "count": 33, "detail": "Sailormen rejected leases on roughly 33 locations it could not sell in Chapter 11, forcing permanent closures.", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" }, { "date": "2025-06-04", "brand": "hooters", "brandName": "Hooters", "location": "FL, GA, MI, NC, SC, TN, TX", "count": 30, "detail": "Roughly 30 restaurants closed on one day during Chapter 11 restructuring.", "src": "rd-hooters" }, { "date": "2025", "brand": "churchs-texas-chicken", "brandName": "Church's Texas Chicken", "location": "United States", "count": 14, "detail": "12 units ceased operations, one franchise agreement terminated and one corporate restaurant closed — against 26 openings.", "src": "ft-church-2025" }, { "date": "2026-H1", "brand": "jollibee-us", "brandName": "Jollibee Foods Corporation", "location": "Global (all brands)", "count": 200, "detail": "More than 200 stores closed group-wide; 2026 opening target cut to 1,000–1,100 from 1,200–1,300.", "src": "thestreet-jollibee" } ] }, "markets": [ { "slug": "houston-tx", "name": "Houston, TX", "state": "Texas", "thesis": "The most contested chicken development market in America right now — a Texas metro where a national brand, a regional franchisor and a homegrown hot chicken concept are all committing capital simultaneously.", "activity": [ { "text": "Korpal Group signed a 13-unit Golden Chick development agreement covering 10 units in greater Houston over four years plus three in Beaumont", "src": "ft-korpal" }, { "text": "Houston TX Hot Chicken is headquartered here and closed 2024 with 25 locations, with 15–20 openings planned for 2026 and an ambition of 50–60 per year thereafter", "src": "nrn-houstontx" }, { "text": "Golden Chick operates 240+ locations across Texas and neighboring states and set an all-time record with 23 openings in 2025", "src": "qsr-golden-250" } ], "watch": [ "Whether the Korpal Houston pipeline secures ten sites inside four years", "Second-generation Popeyes and KFC inventory reaching the market as national closures accelerate", "Whether Dave's Hot Chicken density pushes Houston TX Hot Chicken into secondary trade areas" ] }, { "slug": "dallas-fort-worth-tx", "name": "Dallas–Fort Worth, TX", "state": "Texas", "thesis": "The corporate capital of American chicken. Four significant chicken organizations now run their U.S. operations from the DFW metroplex.", "activity": [ { "text": "KFC is relocating its U.S. corporate headquarters from Louisville, KY to Plano, TX — roughly 100 corporate roles over six months and 90 remote roles over 18 months", "src": "nrn-kfc-hq" }, { "text": "Raising Cane's is headquartered in Plano; Wingstop in Addison; Golden Chick in Richardson", "src": "nrn-kfc-hq" }, { "text": "Ampex Brands, a ~600-unit multi-brand franchisee with KFC exposure and roughly $500M of revenue, is based in Richardson", "src": "franchising-mb50-2026" } ], "watch": [ "Whether KFC's U.S. team relocation accelerates franchisee consolidation in Texas", "Executive talent flow between four headquartered chicken organizations in one metro", "Development competition for the same suburban pad sites among Cane's, Golden Chick and Dave's" ] }, { "slug": "new-york-ny", "name": "New York City, NY", "state": "New York", "thesis": "The last major American metro where the Southeast chicken brands had no presence — and the first real test of whether their unit economics survive a small-format, high-rent, no-drive-thru box.", "activity": [ { "text": "Zaxby's opened its first NYC restaurant in the Bronx on June 29, 2026, followed by an Upper East Side location at 1267 First Avenue", "src": "rd-zaxbys-nyc" }, { "text": "The Manhattan unit spans more than 2,800 SF with 16 dine-in seats and self-order kiosks — materially smaller than the brand's suburban prototype", "src": "co-zaxbys-nyc" }, { "text": "Houston TX Hot Chicken committed to five New York units as part of a 26-unit multi-market announcement", "src": "rn-houstontx" } ], "watch": [ "Whether Zaxby's small-format NYC volumes approach the $2.71M system AUV", "Wingstop's urban trade-area weakness — over 55% of its system sits in urban markets and digital visits there fell 9%", "Whether other Southeast brands follow Zaxby's into the Northeast in 2027" ] }, { "slug": "south-florida", "name": "South Florida (Miami / West Palm Beach)", "state": "Florida", "thesis": "The epicenter of Popeyes franchisee distress — and the market where the franchisor itself paid the highest price per restaurant to take units back.", "activity": [ { "text": "Popeyes corporate acquired 16 Miami-area restaurants out of the Sailormen bankruptcy for $9.6M — roughly $600,000 per restaurant", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" }, { "text": "61 Biscuits LLC acquired three West Palm Beach-area restaurants for $1.11M — about $370,000 per restaurant", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" }, { "text": "Popeyes' brand headquarters is in Miami; Sailormen, the bankrupt 136-unit franchisee, was also Miami-based", "src": "rbo-sailormen-bk" } ], "watch": [ "When and to whom Popeyes refranchises the 16 corporate-held Miami restaurants", "Where the roughly 33 rejected Sailormen leases re-tenant", "Whether South Florida Popeyes volumes support the premium the franchisor paid" ] }, { "slug": "tampa-north-florida", "name": "Tampa & North Florida", "state": "Florida", "thesis": "A 50-restaurant Popeyes platform was just recapitalized here at roughly $54,000 per store. That basis will define competitive behavior in these trade areas for years.", "activity": [ { "text": "Pulse Restaurant Group — established by Sailormen CEO David Damato — acquired 50 Popeyes restaurants across Tampa, Tallahassee, Pensacola and Jacksonville for $2.69M", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" }, { "text": "SBH Foods PLK LLC acquired five Savannah-area restaurants for $650,000", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" }, { "text": "Hooters closures in June 2025 removed large-format casual dining pads across Florida", "src": "rd-hooters" } ], "watch": [ "Whether a debt-free 50-unit operator becomes an acquirer of additional Florida chicken assets", "Landlord outcomes on Sailormen leases that were assumed versus rejected", "Second-generation demand for the vacated Hooters pads" ] }, { "slug": "orlando", "name": "Orlando, FL", "state": "Florida", "thesis": "A 23-unit Popeyes portfolio changed hands out of bankruptcy in the same metro where a fast-growing tender brand is headquartered.", "activity": [ { "text": "RFI Ventures LLC acquired 23 Orlando-area Popeyes restaurants out of the Sailormen bankruptcy for $2.5M", "src": "qsr-sailormen-97" }, { "text": "Huey Magoo's is headquartered in Orlando and grew from 43 units in early 2023 to 85 at the end of 2025, tracking toward 100 in 2026", "src": "rd-huey" } ], "watch": [ "Whether concentrated single-metro Popeyes ownership improves unit economics versus the prior statewide operator", "Huey Magoo's new lower-cost drive-thru prototype rollout in its home market" ] }, { "slug": "ohio", "name": "Ohio (Columbus / Cincinnati)", "state": "Ohio", "thesis": "The clearest test market for Southeast brand portability — two brands with no Ohio history are committing to meaningful unit counts here at the same time.", "activity": [ { "text": "Eyas Capital, now Bojangles' largest franchisee after acquiring 120-unit BOJ of WNC, agreed to grow Bojangles in Cincinnati and Columbus to more than 40 locations", "src": "rd-eyas-boj" }, { "text": "Slim Chickens named Ohio among its priority national expansion markets", "src": "qsr-slim-2026" }, { "text": "Zaxby's is expanding across the Midwest and Northeast with 60+ openings targeted in 2026", "src": "rd-zaxbys-nyc" } ], "watch": [ "Whether out-of-region Bojangles units clear the $2.35M system AUV", "Breakfast daypart performance for a Carolina brand in Midwest commuter patterns", "Site competition among three Southeast brands entering the same metros simultaneously" ] }, { "slug": "atlanta", "name": "Atlanta, GA", "state": "Georgia", "thesis": "More chicken brand headquarters sit in metro Atlanta than anywhere else in the country — including the largest and one of the smallest by unit volume.", "activity": [ { "text": "Chick-fil-A is headquartered in Atlanta and closed 2025 with $23.9B in systemwide sales on a $9.16M average unit volume", "src": "qsr50-2026-chicken" }, { "text": "Church's Texas Chicken is headquartered in Atlanta with 885 U.S. stores and a $1.138M AUV", "src": "ft-church-2025" }, { "text": "Zaxby's is headquartered in Athens, GA and surpassed 1,000 locations in February 2026", "src": "ifa-zaxbys-1000" }, { "text": "Chicken Salad Chick is headquartered in Atlanta and passed 300 locations in 2025", "src": "rd-csc-300" } ], "watch": [ "Executive and franchise-development talent movement among four headquartered brands", "Whether Church's Atlanta-based turnaround holds a second consecutive year of unit growth" ] } ], "research": [ { "slug": "state-of-the-us-chicken-restaurant-industry-2026", "title": "State of the U.S. Chicken Restaurant Industry — 2026", "dek": "Category growth has halved in two years. Growth is no longer being created; it is being redistributed.", "date": "August 2026", "readTime": "9 min", "sections": [ { "h": "The headline number", "p": "Chicken chain sales grew 5.3% in 2025, down from 9.1% in 2024 and more than 12% in 2023. That is still meaningfully ahead of the 3% posted by the restaurant industry overall, and the demand backdrop remains excellent — USDA projects per-capita chicken availability at a record 102.8 pounds in 2026, keeping chicken the most consumed animal protein in America. What has changed is that the category is no longer growing fast enough for every brand to win.", "srcs": [ "rbo-chicken-slows", "usda-ers-percapita" ] }, { "h": "Where the growth went", "p": "Dave's Hot Chicken grew sales 51% and units 52.3% in 2025, making it the fastest-growing chain among the 200 largest concepts in America. Raising Cane's added 10.3% more units and 10.6% more sales, crossing $5.48B. Layne's Chicken Fingers doubled its footprint for a second consecutive year. Zaxby's crossed 1,000 units. Every one of those gains came out of somebody else's traffic.", "srcs": [ "rbo-chicken-slows", "ifa-zaxbys-1000", "fb101-laynes-2026" ] }, { "h": "Where it came from", "p": "KFC closed 312 U.S. restaurants in the twelve months to July 2026 — 7.64% of its American footprint — and ended 2025 at 3,523 units against 3,669 entering the year. Popeyes has now posted six consecutive quarters of negative U.S. comparable sales, with Q1 2026 at -6.5%, its worst quarter in roughly two decades. Jollibee closed more than 200 stores group-wide in the first half of 2026 and cut its opening target. Even Wingstop, the category's development champion, saw domestic same-store sales fall 7.5% in Q2 2026.", "srcs": [ "thestreet-kfc-300", "thestreet-kfc-207", "rbo-popeyes-slump", "rd-bk-popeyes-q2", "thestreet-jollibee", "wing-q2-2026" ] }, { "h": "The franchisee is where it breaks first", "p": "Restaurant Brands International disclosed that average Popeyes franchisee restaurant-level profitability fell to roughly $235,000 in 2025. Within weeks, Sailormen — a 136-restaurant operator with 3,300 employees and $233.5M of fiscal 2025 revenue — filed Chapter 11. Ninety-seven restaurants sold for $16.55M total across five buyers, and roughly 33 more went dark through lease rejection. Brand-level metrics did not predict that. Operator-level economics did.", "srcs": [ "cnbc-rbi-q4-2025", "qsr-sailormen-97", "rbo-sailormen-bk" ] }, { "h": "What it means", "p": "For 2027, the category's most important variable is not consumer demand for chicken — that is secure. It is whether the brands losing share can stabilize franchisee unit economics before their operators run out of balance sheet. KFC is furthest along: three consecutive quarters of positive comps after seven negative ones, a menu reset around boneless, wings and sauces, and a U.S. headquarters move to Texas. Popeyes is earliest: a new U.S. president out of the Burger King turnaround, a narrowed menu, permanent value architecture, and a field organization expanding roughly 75%.", "srcs": [ "cnbc-kfc-menu", "nrn-kfc-hq", "qsr-popeyes-president" ] } ] }, { "slug": "chicken-qsr-real-estate-report-2026", "title": "Chicken QSR Real Estate Report — 2026", "dek": "A 100 basis point spread now separates corporate from franchisee credit. That spread is the whole business.", "date": "August 2026", "readTime": "7 min", "sections": [ { "h": "Where cap rates stand", "p": "Corporate-guaranteed QSR cap rates rose three basis points to 5.85% in Q2 2026 while franchisee-guaranteed QSR rose five basis points to 6.85%. Overall single-tenant net lease sat at 6.80% with retail at 6.55%. Premium ground lease product for McDonald's and Chick-fil-A asked the lowest cap rates in the sector at roughly 4.45%.", "srcs": [ "boulder-q2-2026", "mba-boulder-q2" ] }, { "h": "The top of the market keeps setting records", "p": "In July 2026 a new-construction Chick-fil-A in Hixson, Tennessee traded at $2.77M and a 4.15% cap rate — per CoStar the lowest cap rate ever achieved on a single-tenant Chick-fil-A drive-thru in the state, and achieved on a 15-year term rather than the customary 20. Raising Cane's corporate-guaranteed ground leases price at 4.70%–5.00%, with a $6.84M transaction closing at 4.75%. Two brands in this category now price like credit instruments rather than restaurants.", "srcs": [ "citybiz-cfa-hixson", "chattanoogan-cfa", "boulder-canes", "connectcre-canes-gl" ] }, { "h": "The bottom of the market is repricing", "p": "Popeyes assets are marketed between 5.10% and 6.80% with an average asking cap rate near 5.80%, on 15–20 year terms with 7.5%–10% escalations. But the credit behind most of those leases is a franchisee, and 2026 supplied a live demonstration of what that means: a 136-unit Popeyes operator filed Chapter 11 and rejected roughly 33 leases. Short-term, non-rated restaurant tenants can trade 200 to 300 basis points wider than premium ground leases — and that gap widens when the operator's comps are negative.", "srcs": [ "topnetlease-popeyes", "qsr-sailormen-97", "boulder-tenant-q1-2026" ] }, { "h": "Supply is building", "p": "Single-tenant property supply jumped 12.5% quarter over quarter in Q2 2026 to nearly 5,800 available properties, with retail listings up 16.2%. Layered on top of that is genuine second-generation chicken inventory: 312 KFC closures in twelve months, roughly 33 rejected Popeyes leases in Florida and Georgia, 12 Church's units ceasing operations in 2025, and roughly 30 Hooters pads closing in a single day in June 2025.", "srcs": [ "boulder-q2-2026", "thestreet-kfc-300", "qsr-sailormen-97", "ft-church-2025", "rd-hooters" ] }, { "h": "What it means", "p": "The opportunity in chicken real estate in 2026–2027 is not buying a 4.15% Chick-fil-A ground lease. It is the second-generation inventory: freestanding drive-thru boxes in trade areas that have supported chicken for thirty years, coming to market through franchisee distress and brand rationalization rather than through a marketed process. That inventory is generated by operator failure, which is why an operator database is a real estate tool." } ] }, { "slug": "us-chicken-franchisee-landscape-2026", "title": "The U.S. Chicken Franchisee Landscape — 2026", "dek": "One operator controls a quarter of the KFC system. Another 136-unit operator ceased to exist in eleven months.", "date": "August 2026", "readTime": "8 min", "sections": [ { "h": "Consolidation at the top", "p": "KBP Brands reached 1,224 total units in 2026, up from 1,119 in 2025, and remains the nation's largest KFC franchisee at 831 locations — roughly a quarter of the entire U.S. KFC system. KBP has also diversified beyond Yum! Brands, adding 119 Arby's and 167 Sonic units across two rounds. Ampex Brands runs roughly 600 units with about $500M of revenue from Richardson, Texas, and has crossed from franchisee to franchisor by acquiring Au Bon Pain.", "srcs": [ "franchising-mb50-2026", "franchising-kbp", "cnbc-ampex" ] }, { "h": "Institutional capital has arrived", "p": "Eyas Capital acquired BOJ of WNC — Bojangles' largest franchise group, 120 restaurants across six states — and immediately committed to more than 40 new units in Cincinnati and Columbus, taking its portfolio past 350 franchise units. Brentwood Associates and Sixth Street invested in Far West Services, the largest West Coast Wingstop franchisee at 127 locations. Guernsey Holdings, a multi-sector franchisee, bought 20 Zaxby's in South Carolina.", "srcs": [ "rd-eyas-boj", "sixthstreet-farwest", "rbo-guernsey-zaxbys" ] }, { "h": "And so has distress", "p": "Sailormen entered 2026 with 136 Popeyes restaurants across Florida and Georgia, 3,300 employees and $233.5M of fiscal 2025 revenue. It filed Chapter 11 in January 2026 and sold 97 restaurants for $16.55M across five buyers. Read the per-restaurant pricing: Popeyes corporate paid roughly $600,000 per restaurant for 16 Miami units, 61 Biscuits about $370,000 per restaurant in West Palm Beach, and Pulse Restaurant Group about $54,000 per restaurant for 50 units across Tampa, Tallahassee, Pensacola and Jacksonville. Roughly 33 restaurants attracted no buyer.", "srcs": [ "qsr-sailormen-97", "rbo-sailormen-bk" ] }, { "h": "The second-generation operator", "p": "Beneath the platforms, the most durable growth in chicken franchising comes from families redeploying capital between brands. The Korpal brothers, whose parents ran 22 Subway franchises in Southeast Texas, signed a 13-unit Golden Chick development agreement covering ten Houston units over four years and three in Beaumont. SXThree Restaurant Group operates 20 Golden Chicks in central Texas and is targeting 100 by 2030. Layne's added ten new franchisees in 2025, including operators from the Wendy's and Arby's systems.", "srcs": [ "ft-korpal", "entrepreneur-korpal", "ft-golden-sxthree", "pr-laynes-2025" ] }, { "h": "What it means", "p": "Brand unit counts conceal almost everything that matters. Bojangles' footprint did not change when 120 of its restaurants passed from a founder-operator to an investment platform. KFC's closure count does not tell you which operator is absorbing the survivors. The chicken industry's real ownership map is held privately, updated through bankruptcy dockets, franchise transfers and development agreements — and that is precisely why it is worth building." } ] }, { "slug": "chicken-expansion-outlook-2026-2027", "title": "Chicken Expansion Outlook — 2026–2027", "dek": "More than 4,000 chicken restaurants are under some form of announced commitment. Not all of them will open.", "date": "August 2026", "readTime": "6 min", "sections": [ { "h": "The committed pipeline", "p": "Adding up publicly announced development commitments across the brands CSW tracks produces a striking figure: Dave's Hot Chicken has roughly 1,000 locations in development and plans 150+ openings in 2026; Slim Chickens has a pipeline of more than 1,200 restaurants after signing 110 agreements in 2025; Church's plans 600 units in China and 900 across Europe and other international markets; Krispy Krunchy targets roughly 500 foodservice retrofit sites by 2030. Chick-fil-A expects 100+ new U.S. restaurants in 2026 and Raising Cane's nearly 100.", "srcs": [ "ifa-daves-eight", "qsr-slim-2026", "rd-church-china", "rd-krispy-2025", "qsr-cfa-24b", "nrn-canes-openings" ] }, { "h": "Discount the agreements, respect the openings", "p": "Signed area development agreements convert to open restaurants at well below 100% across franchising. The useful distinction is between committed pipeline and demonstrated throughput. Dave's opened eight restaurants in a single day in April 2026. Wingstop opened 102 restaurants in one quarter. Golden Chick set a brand record with 23 openings in 2025 and Layne's opened 21 while doubling its system. Those are throughput numbers. A 1,200-unit pipeline is an aspiration until sites are controlled.", "srcs": [ "ifa-daves-eight", "wing-q2-2026", "qsr-golden-250", "pr-laynes-2025" ] }, { "h": "The geography is shifting north and east", "p": "Zaxby's opened in the Bronx and on the Upper East Side after debuting in New Jersey in December 2025 — its 24th state. Bojangles is being built out in Ohio by Eyas Capital and in San Antonio under a 21-unit agreement. Slim Chickens is targeting Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut. Southeast chicken brands are, for the first time at scale, underwriting Northeast and Midwest real estate.", "srcs": [ "rd-zaxbys-nyc", "rd-eyas-boj", "qsr-bojangles-portability", "qsr-slim-2026" ] }, { "h": "What it means", "p": "The binding constraint on chicken expansion in 2026–2027 is not capital or franchisee demand. It is site control and build cost. Huey Magoo's cut drive-thru build costs by roughly 40% and immediately became more franchisable. Slim Chickens hired a former Starbucks site-strategy executive as Chief Development Officer. Both moves are recognitions of the same reality: the brands with the pipeline are competing for the same pads, and whoever solves real estate throughput converts announcements into restaurants.", "srcs": [ "rd-huey", "qsr-slim-dev" ] } ] } ], "datacenter": [ { "id": "category-growth", "title": "Chicken chain sales growth is decelerating", "type": "bar", "unit": "pct", "note": "Chicken remains the fastest-growing major restaurant category, but the era of automatic double-digit growth ended. The 2025 category figure of +5.3% compares with +3% for the total industry.", "series": [ { "label": "2023", "value": 12 }, { "label": "2024", "value": 9.1 }, { "label": "2025", "value": 5.3 }, { "label": "2025 — all restaurants", "value": 3 } ], "srcs": [ "rbo-chicken-slows" ] }, { "id": "auv", "title": "Average unit volume by brand", "type": "bar", "unit": "usdM", "note": "Chick-fil-A generates roughly eight times the unit volume of Church's Texas Chicken. AUV is the single most important input into what rent a site can carry. Dave's Hot Chicken's figure is franchisee-reported rather than franchisor-disclosed.", "series": [ { "label": "Chick-fil-A", "value": 9.161, "slug": "chick-fil-a" }, { "label": "Raising Cane's", "value": 6.3, "slug": "raising-canes" }, { "label": "Dave's Hot Chicken*", "value": 3, "slug": "daves-hot-chicken" }, { "label": "Zaxby's", "value": 2.71, "slug": "zaxbys" }, { "label": "Slim Chickens", "value": 2.44, "slug": "slim-chickens" }, { "label": "Bojangles", "value": 2.351, "slug": "bojangles" }, { "label": "El Pollo Loco", "value": 2.3, "slug": "el-pollo-loco" }, { "label": "Wingstop", "value": 2, "slug": "wingstop" }, { "label": "Chicken Salad Chick", "value": 1.48, "slug": "chicken-salad-chick" }, { "label": "Church's Texas Chicken", "value": 1.138, "slug": "churchs-texas-chicken" } ], "srcs": [ "qsr50-2026-chicken", "rd-auv-leaders", "rbo-roark-daves", "nrn-zaxbys-ops", "qsr-slim-2026", "ft-top400-chicken", "loco-q4-2025", "wing-fy25", "qsr-csc-record", "ft-church-2025" ] }, { "id": "units", "title": "U.S. location count by brand", "type": "bar", "unit": "units", "note": "Krispy Krunchy Chicken has more points of distribution than any traditional chicken chain in America — and occupies almost no restaurant real estate, because it lives inside convenience stores. The Popeyes figure covers the U.S. and Canada combined.", "series": [ { "label": "Popeyes (US + Canada)", "value": 3578, "slug": "popeyes" }, { "label": "KFC U.S.", "value": 3523, "slug": "kfc" }, { "label": "Krispy Krunchy Chicken", "value": 3500, "slug": "krispy-krunchy-chicken" }, { "label": "Chick-fil-A", "value": 2863, "slug": "chick-fil-a" }, { "label": "Wingstop U.S.", "value": 2586, "slug": "wingstop" }, { "label": "Zaxby's", "value": 1000, "slug": "zaxbys" }, { "label": "Raising Cane's", "value": 913, "slug": "raising-canes" }, { "label": "Church's Texas Chicken", "value": 885, "slug": "churchs-texas-chicken" }, { "label": "Bojangles", "value": 860, "slug": "bojangles" }, { "label": "El Pollo Loco", "value": 500, "slug": "el-pollo-loco" }, { "label": "Dave's Hot Chicken", "value": 390, "slug": "daves-hot-chicken" }, { "label": "Slim Chickens (global)", "value": 300, "slug": "slim-chickens" }, { "label": "Chicken Salad Chick", "value": 300, "slug": "chicken-salad-chick" }, { "label": "Golden Chick", "value": 250, "slug": "golden-chick" }, { "label": "Pollo Campero", "value": 140, "slug": "pollo-campero" }, { "label": "Bonchon", "value": 140, "slug": "bonchon" }, { "label": "Huey Magoo's", "value": 85, "slug": "huey-magoos" }, { "label": "Layne's Chicken Fingers", "value": 50, "slug": "laynes-chicken-fingers" } ], "srcs": [ "rbi-10k-2025", "thestreet-kfc-207", "cstore-krispy", "qsr50-2026-chicken", "wing-10k-2025", "ifa-zaxbys-1000", "rbo-chicken-slows", "ft-church-2025", "qsr-bojangles-portability", "loco-q4-2025", "ifa-daves-eight", "qsr-slim-2026", "rd-csc-300", "qsr-golden-250", "rd-campero", "eatthis-bonchon", "rd-huey", "fb101-laynes-2026" ] }, { "id": "unit-growth", "title": "Unit growth, latest reported year", "type": "bar", "unit": "pct", "note": "Two brands are growing units faster than 50% a year. One major brand is shrinking. Where marked, growth is derived arithmetically from sourced start- and end-of-period unit counts.", "series": [ { "label": "Layne's Chicken Fingers", "value": 110, "slug": "laynes-chicken-fingers" }, { "label": "Dave's Hot Chicken", "value": 52.3, "slug": "daves-hot-chicken" }, { "label": "Wingstop", "value": 19.2, "slug": "wingstop" }, { "label": "Pollo Campero†", "value": 18.6, "slug": "pollo-campero" }, { "label": "Krispy Krunchy Chicken†", "value": 17.3, "slug": "krispy-krunchy-chicken" }, { "label": "Chicken Salad Chick", "value": 13, "slug": "chicken-salad-chick" }, { "label": "Raising Cane's", "value": 10.3, "slug": "raising-canes" }, { "label": "Golden Chick†", "value": 9.2, "slug": "golden-chick" }, { "label": "Chick-fil-A†", "value": 6.7, "slug": "chick-fil-a" }, { "label": "Bojangles†", "value": 4.2, "slug": "bojangles" }, { "label": "Zaxby's†", "value": 3.2, "slug": "zaxbys" }, { "label": "El Pollo Loco†", "value": 1.8, "slug": "el-pollo-loco" }, { "label": "Church's Texas Chicken†", "value": 1.4, "slug": "churchs-texas-chicken" }, { "label": "KFC U.S.†", "value": -4, "slug": "kfc" } ], "srcs": [ "fb101-laynes-2026", "rbo-chicken-slows", "wing-fy25", "rd-campero", "cstore-krispy", "rd-csc-300", "qsr50-2026-chicken", "qsr-golden-250", "qsr-bojangles-portability", "ifa-zaxbys-1000", "loco-q4-2025", "ft-church-2025", "thestreet-kfc-207" ] }, { "id": "comps", "title": "Most recently reported same-store sales", "type": "bar", "unit": "pct", "note": "The two largest publicly reported chicken systems are both in negative comp territory. KFC's turnaround is the only positive inflection among the legacy brands.", "series": [ { "label": "El Pollo Loco (Q4 2025)", "value": 2.1, "slug": "el-pollo-loco" }, { "label": "KFC U.S. (recent quarter)", "value": 2, "slug": "kfc" }, { "label": "Popeyes U.S. (Q2 2026)", "value": -5.2, "slug": "popeyes" }, { "label": "Wingstop domestic (Q2 2026)", "value": -7.5, "slug": "wingstop" } ], "srcs": [ "loco-q4-2025", "cnbc-kfc-menu", "rd-bk-popeyes-q2", "wing-q2-2026" ] }, { "id": "cap-rates", "title": "Chicken QSR cap rates", "type": "bar", "unit": "pct", "note": "The 100 basis point spread between corporate and franchisee QSR credit is the price the market puts on knowing who actually operates the restaurant.", "series": [ { "label": "Chick-fil-A ground lease (mid)", "value": 4.35, "slug": "chick-fil-a" }, { "label": "Raising Cane's ground lease (mid)", "value": 4.85, "slug": "raising-canes" }, { "label": "Popeyes (avg asking)", "value": 5.8, "slug": "popeyes" }, { "label": "Corporate QSR benchmark", "value": 5.85 }, { "label": "All single-tenant net lease", "value": 6.8 }, { "label": "Franchisee QSR benchmark", "value": 6.85 }, { "label": "Zaxby's (single offering, OK)", "value": 7.42, "slug": "zaxbys" } ], "srcs": [ "boulder-tenant-q1-2026", "boulder-canes", "topnetlease-popeyes", "boulder-q2-2026", "bullrealty-zaxbys" ] }, { "id": "commodities", "title": "Wholesale chicken input costs", "type": "bar", "unit": "usd", "note": "Wings ended 2025 at roughly half their end-2024 price, and boneless skinless breast fell from a mid-year peak of $2.77 to $1.16. Cheap inputs are currently offsetting weak traffic across the wing category.", "series": [ { "label": "Wings — end 2024", "value": 1.88 }, { "label": "Wings — end 2025", "value": 0.98 }, { "label": "B/S breast — mid-2025 peak", "value": 2.77 }, { "label": "B/S breast — end 2025", "value": 1.16 } ], "srcs": [ "southernag-prices" ] }, { "id": "kfc-units", "title": "KFC U.S. unit count", "type": "line", "unit": "units", "note": "161 closures against 15 openings in calendar 2025, then 46 more closures in the first quarter of 2026. Every one of those closures is a second-generation chicken box.", "series": [ { "label": "Start 2025", "value": 3669 }, { "label": "End 2025", "value": 3523 } ], "srcs": [ "thestreet-kfc-207" ] }, { "id": "per-capita", "title": "U.S. per-capita chicken availability (lbs)", "type": "bar", "unit": "lbs", "note": "Chicken is the most consumed animal protein in the United States and per-capita availability is still setting records. Weak brand comps are a share problem, not a demand problem.", "series": [ { "label": "2025", "value": 102.7 }, { "label": "2026 (projected)", "value": 102.8 } ], "srcs": [ "usda-ers-percapita" ] } ], "consumer": { "publishedRankings": [ { "title": "Top 5 fast food chicken sandwiches in the U.S. (2026)", "publisher": "RoadTour", "src": "roadtour-top5", "method": "Analysis of customer feedback across Reddit, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok, focused on items introduced or meaningfully upgraded in 2026.", "items": [ "Bojangles BLT Chicken", "Huey Magoo's Chicken Sandwich", "Dave's Hot Chicken", "Popeyes", "Culver's Chicken Sandwich" ] }, { "title": "Best new fast food chicken sandwich of 2026 so far", "publisher": "Tasting Table", "src": "tastingtable-2026", "method": "Editorial taste evaluation of new 2026 menu items.", "items": [ "Whataburger Hot Honey Crisp Whatachick'n" ] }, { "title": "Major fried chicken chains ranked by consumer popularity", "publisher": "Stacker, using YouGov data on 272 dining brands", "src": "stacker-yougov", "method": "YouGov brand popularity surveys, filtered to the 10 fried chicken chains in the panel.", "items": [ "Chick-fil-A ranks third among fried chicken chains on consumer popularity — behind two others, despite leading the category on every financial measure" ] } ], "context": [ { "text": "The chicken sandwich wars began on August 12, 2019, when Popeyes launched its chicken sandwich and the resulting exchange with Chick-fil-A went viral. More than 20 American fast food brands added chicken sandwiches within the following two years.", "src": "rbo-cs-wars-history" }, { "text": "Fried chicken concept traffic rose 3% in the year ending September 2025 while traffic to all restaurant concepts fell 1%.", "src": "placer-chicken" }, { "text": "Dave's Hot Chicken, Raising Cane's and Church's Texas Chicken each draw millions of visits per month; Chick-fil-A posted year-over-year visit growth from September 2025 through February 2026.", "src": "placer-chicken" }, { "text": "U.S. per-capita chicken availability is projected at a record 102.8 pounds in 2026, keeping chicken the most consumed animal protein in the country.", "src": "usda-ers-percapita" } ] }, "events": [ { "name": "Restaurant Finance & Development Conference (RFDC)", "date": "November 9–11, 2026", "location": "Las Vegas, NV", "why": "The restaurant industry's primary financial event for owners, operators and financial executives — where franchisee M&A and lending relationships get made.", "src": "rfdc-2026" }, { "name": "Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit", "date": "March 8–10, 2027", "location": "New Orleans, LA", "why": "Franchisor and multi-unit franchisee development programming.", "src": "rfis-2027" }, { "name": "IFA Annual Convention", "date": "Dates published by the IFA", "location": "Announced annually", "why": "The largest cross-industry franchising gathering; heavy franchisee-franchisor deal activity.", "src": "ifa-convention" }, { "name": "Restaurant Leadership Conference", "date": "Returns 2027", "location": "Announced annually", "why": "Senior operator and franchisor leadership programming.", "src": "rlc" } ], "cswScores": [ { "rank": 1, "brand": "chick-fil-a", "score": 74, "components": [ { "key": "economics", "label": "Unit Economics", "weight": 30, "value": 98, "raw": 9161000, "desc": "Average unit volume." }, { "key": "expansion", "label": "Expansion", "weight": 18, "value": 36, "raw": 6.7, "desc": "Unit growth over the latest reported year." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 98, "raw": 4.35, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." }, { "key": "momentum", "label": "System Momentum", "weight": 12, "value": 38, "raw": 5.2, "desc": "Systemwide sales growth over the latest reported year." } ] }, { "rank": 2, "brand": "daves-hot-chicken", "score": 71, "components": [ { "key": "economics", "label": "Unit Economics", "weight": 30, "value": 54, "raw": 3000000, "desc": "Average unit volume." }, { "key": "expansion", "label": "Expansion", "weight": 18, "value": 96, "raw": 52.3, "desc": "Unit growth over the latest reported year." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 56, "raw": 6.85, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." }, { "key": "momentum", "label": "System Momentum", "weight": 12, "value": 95, "raw": 51, "desc": "Systemwide sales growth over the latest reported year." } ] }, { "rank": 3, "brand": "raising-canes", "score": 65, "components": [ { "key": "economics", "label": "Unit Economics", "weight": 30, "value": 77, "raw": 6300000, "desc": "Average unit volume." }, { "key": "expansion", "label": "Expansion", "weight": 18, "value": 40, "raw": 10.3, "desc": "Unit growth over the latest reported year." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 89, "raw": 4.85, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." }, { "key": "momentum", "label": "System Momentum", "weight": 12, "value": 45, "raw": 10.6, "desc": "Systemwide sales growth over the latest reported year." } ] }, { "rank": 4, "brand": "laynes-chicken-fingers", "score": 65, "components": [ { "key": "economics", "label": "Unit Economics", "weight": 30, "value": 49, "raw": 2206127, "desc": "Average unit volume." }, { "key": "expansion", "label": "Expansion", "weight": 18, "value": 100, "raw": 110, "desc": "Unit growth over the latest reported year." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 56, "raw": 6.85, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." } ] }, { "rank": 5, "brand": "el-pollo-loco", "score": 59, "components": [ { "key": "demand", "label": "Consumer Demand", "weight": 25, "value": 83, "raw": 2.1, "desc": "Most recently reported same-store sales." }, { "key": "economics", "label": "Unit Economics", "weight": 30, "value": 49, "raw": 2300000, "desc": "Average unit volume." }, { "key": "expansion", "label": "Expansion", "weight": 18, "value": 29, "raw": 1.8, "desc": "Unit growth over the latest reported year." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 73, "raw": 5.85, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." } ] }, { "rank": 6, "brand": "slim-chickens", "score": 54, "components": [ { "key": "economics", "label": "Unit Economics", "weight": 30, "value": 50, "raw": 2440000, "desc": "Average unit volume." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 56, "raw": 6.85, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." }, { "key": "momentum", "label": "System Momentum", "weight": 12, "value": 61, "raw": 23.4, "desc": "Systemwide sales growth over the latest reported year." } ] }, { "rank": 7, "brand": "pollo-campero", "score": 54, "components": [ { "key": "economics", "label": "Unit Economics", "weight": 30, "value": 54, "raw": 2978747, "desc": "Average unit volume." }, { "key": "expansion", "label": "Expansion", "weight": 18, "value": 51, "raw": 18.6, "desc": "Unit growth over the latest reported year." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 56, "raw": 6.85, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." } ] }, { "rank": 8, "brand": "kfc", "score": 48, "components": [ { "key": "demand", "label": "Consumer Demand", "weight": 25, "value": 83, "raw": 2, "desc": "Most recently reported same-store sales." }, { "key": "expansion", "label": "Expansion", "weight": 18, "value": 21, "raw": -4, "desc": "Unit growth over the latest reported year." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 56, "raw": 6.85, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." }, { "key": "momentum", "label": "System Momentum", "weight": 12, "value": 28, "raw": -3, "desc": "Systemwide sales growth over the latest reported year." } ] }, { "rank": 9, "brand": "bojangles", "score": 46, "components": [ { "key": "economics", "label": "Unit Economics", "weight": 30, "value": 50, "raw": 2351000, "desc": "Average unit volume." }, { "key": "expansion", "label": "Expansion", "weight": 18, "value": 32, "raw": 4.2, "desc": "Unit growth over the latest reported year." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 56, "raw": 6.85, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." } ] }, { "rank": 10, "brand": "chicken-salad-chick", "score": 46, "components": [ { "key": "economics", "label": "Unit Economics", "weight": 30, "value": 43, "raw": 1480000, "desc": "Average unit volume." }, { "key": "expansion", "label": "Expansion", "weight": 18, "value": 44, "raw": 13, "desc": "Unit growth over the latest reported year." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 56, "raw": 6.85, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." } ] }, { "rank": 11, "brand": "zaxbys", "score": 45, "components": [ { "key": "economics", "label": "Unit Economics", "weight": 30, "value": 52, "raw": 2710000, "desc": "Average unit volume." }, { "key": "expansion", "label": "Expansion", "weight": 18, "value": 31, "raw": 3.2, "desc": "Unit growth over the latest reported year." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 56, "raw": 6.85, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." }, { "key": "momentum", "label": "System Momentum", "weight": 12, "value": 37, "raw": 4.6, "desc": "Systemwide sales growth over the latest reported year." } ] }, { "rank": 12, "brand": "golden-chick", "score": 45, "components": [ { "key": "economics", "label": "Unit Economics", "weight": 30, "value": 43, "raw": 1355743, "desc": "Average unit volume." }, { "key": "expansion", "label": "Expansion", "weight": 18, "value": 39, "raw": 9.2, "desc": "Unit growth over the latest reported year." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 56, "raw": 6.85, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." } ] }, { "rank": 13, "brand": "wingstop", "score": 43, "components": [ { "key": "demand", "label": "Consumer Demand", "weight": 25, "value": 23, "raw": -7.5, "desc": "Most recently reported same-store sales." }, { "key": "economics", "label": "Unit Economics", "weight": 30, "value": 47, "raw": 2000000, "desc": "Average unit volume." }, { "key": "expansion", "label": "Expansion", "weight": 18, "value": 52, "raw": 19.2, "desc": "Unit growth over the latest reported year." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 56, "raw": 6.85, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." }, { "key": "momentum", "label": "System Momentum", "weight": 12, "value": 46, "raw": 12.1, "desc": "Systemwide sales growth over the latest reported year." } ] }, { "rank": 14, "brand": "popeyes", "score": 42, "components": [ { "key": "demand", "label": "Consumer Demand", "weight": 25, "value": 38, "raw": -5.2, "desc": "Most recently reported same-store sales." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 73, "raw": 5.8, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." }, { "key": "momentum", "label": "System Momentum", "weight": 12, "value": 27, "raw": -3.3, "desc": "Systemwide sales growth over the latest reported year." } ] }, { "rank": 15, "brand": "churchs-texas-chicken", "score": 40, "components": [ { "key": "economics", "label": "Unit Economics", "weight": 30, "value": 41, "raw": 1138000, "desc": "Average unit volume." }, { "key": "expansion", "label": "Expansion", "weight": 18, "value": 29, "raw": 1.4, "desc": "Unit growth over the latest reported year." }, { "key": "realestate", "label": "Real Estate Strength", "weight": 15, "value": 56, "raw": 6.85, "desc": "Cap rate on the brand’s net-lease product — lower is stronger." }, { "key": "momentum", "label": "System Momentum", "weight": 12, "value": 34, "raw": 1.8, "desc": "Systemwide sales growth over the latest reported year." } ] } ] }