Popeyes U.S. comps -5.2% Q2’26Wingstop domestic SSS -7.5% Q2’26KFC U.S. units 3,523 YE’25Dave’s unit growth +52.3% FY’25Chick-fil-A AUV $9.16MCane’s systemwide $5.48B FY’25Franchisee QSR cap 6.85%Corporate QSR cap 5.85%Category growth +5.3% ’25Wings wholesale $0.98/lb YE’25
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Database

Chicken Expansion Tracker

Announced development agreements, committed pipelines and market entries — the connective tissue between brands, operators and real estate.

5,134+
Units under announced commitment
Sum of publicly announced pipelines and agreements tracked below
20
Tracked commitments
1,200+
Slim Chickens' committed pipeline
Against roughly 300 open restaurants
~1,000
Dave's Hot Chicken in development
150+ openings planned in 2026
Treat committed pipeline and demonstrated throughput as different numbers. Signed area development agreements convert to open restaurants at well under 100% across franchising. What is verifiable is throughput: Dave's opened eight restaurants in a single day1, Wingstop opened 102 in one quarter20, and Golden Chick set a brand record with 23 openings in 202511.
AnnouncedBrandOperatorMarketCommitmentTimeline
2026Dave's Hot Chicken—National + international1~1,000 in developmentOngoing; 150+ openings planned in 2026
2026Slim ChickensMultiple franchisees (110 agreements signed in 2025)IL, OH, PA, NY, MA, NJ, CT + Europe, Asia, GCC21,200+ pipelineMulti-year
2026Chick-fil-ACompanyUnited States3100+ in 20262026
2026Raising Cane'sCompanyNational4~100 in 20262026; 1,600-restaurant long-term goal
2026Raising Cane'sCompanyLondon, UK5Flagship + additional West End, Strand, Oxford Circus, Paddington, South Bank sites2026
2026Zaxby'sMultiple franchiseesNational (Midwest / Northeast focus)660+ openings in 20262026; goal of 100 per year
2025Bojangleseyas-capitalCincinnati and Columbus, OH740+Multi-year
2026Bojangles—San Antonio, TX821-unit agreementMulti-year; 18 TX units open and ~20 in development
2026Golden Chickkorpal-groupGreater Houston and Beaumont, TX913-unit development agreement10 Houston units over four years; three Beaumont units over ten years
2025Golden ChicksxthreeCentral Texas, Alabama, Mississippi10100 units targeted by 2030Through 2030
2026Golden Chick—Nevada, Arkansas, Missouri, Arizona11New state entriesOpening soon
2026Layne's Chicken Fingers—Texas + national1268 restaurants under agreement incl. a 44-store Texas deal and 15-unit Wisconsin dealUp to 45 openings in 2026; 300 units by 2030
2026Huey Magoo's—Southeast + expansion markets13100 restaurants2026
2026Houston TX Hot Chicken—Illinois (11), Louisiana (5), Arkansas (5), New York (5)1426 franchise commitments15–20 openings in 2026; 50–60 per year thereafter
2026Houston TX Hot ChickenPizzaExpress (European master franchisee)United Kingdom1550 over three yearsThree locations in 2026
2026Church's Texas ChickenDeke Shengtang (master franchisee)China16600 unitsMulti-year
2025Texas Chicken (international)—Europe and beyond16900 units plannedNear future
2025Chick-fil-ACompanyUnited Kingdom / Singapore175 UK restaurants in first two years; Singapore entry$100M UK over 10 years; $75M Singapore over 10 years; five international markets by 2030
2025Krispy Krunchy Chicken—National (c-store foodservice retrofits)18~150 retrofit sites by end-2026, ~300 by 2028, ~500 by 2030Through 2030
2026Pollo Campero—United States19250 U.S. units targetedFive-year plan from a 90-unit base

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Sources

Every figure on this page is attributed. CSW does not publish estimates as facts — where a number is unavailable it is shown as “—”, and where a figure is derived arithmetically from two published figures it is marked as derived.

  1. [1] International Franchise Association — Dave's Hot Chicken Opens Record Eight Restaurants in a Single Day (2026-04)
  2. [2] QSR Magazine — Slim Chickens Sharpens its Domestic Growth Playbook for 2026 (2026)
  3. [3] QSR Magazine — Chick-fil-A Dials Up Expansion as Sales Near $24 Billion (2026)
  4. [4] Nation's Restaurant News — Raising Cane's has accelerated restaurant openings this year (2026)
  5. [5] Restaurant Dive — Raising Cane's heads to the UK (2025)
  6. [6] Restaurant Dive — Zaxbys debuts in New York (2026-07)
  7. [7] Restaurant Dive — Bojangles' largest franchisee acquired by PE firm (2025)
  8. [8] QSR Magazine — Bojangles Proves Portability as New Markets Fuel Record Growth (2026)
  9. [9] Franchise Times — Subway Franchisees Expand Portfolio With Golden Chick Deal (2026)
  10. [10] Franchise Times — Franchisee SXThree Fuels Golden Chick Expansion (2024)
  11. [11] QSR Magazine — Golden Chick Opens 250th Restaurant (2026)
  12. [12] PR Newswire — Layne's Chicken Fingers Doubles Footprint, Welcomes 10 New Franchisees in 2025 (2026-01-26)
  13. [13] Restaurant Dive — Huey Magoo's cuts drive-thru build costs by 40% (2026)
  14. [14] RestaurantNews.com — Houston TX Hot Chicken Accelerates Nationwide Expansion With 26 New Franchise Commitments (2026-01)
  15. [15] RestaurantNews.com — Houston TX Hot Chicken Takes Its Heat Global With UK Debut (2026-06-24)
  16. [16] Restaurant Dive — Church's Texas Chicken plots 600-unit expansion in China (2026)
  17. [17] WATTPoultry — Chick-fil-A plans expansion into Europe, Asia by 2026 (2025)
  18. [18] Restaurant Dive — Krispy Krunchy Chicken outlines 2025 growth plans (2025)
  19. [19] Restaurant Dive — How Pollo Campero plans to grow from 90 US units to 250 in 5 years (2024)
  20. [20] Wingstop Inc. / PR Newswire — Wingstop Inc. Reports Fiscal Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results (2026-07-29)