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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Home / Markets / Ohio (Columbus / Cincinnati)
Market profile · Ohio

Ohio (Columbus / Cincinnati)

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.

Tracked activity

  • 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 locations1
  • Slim Chickens named Ohio among its priority national expansion markets2
  • Zaxby's is expanding across the Midwest and Northeast with 60+ openings targeted in 20263

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] Restaurant Dive — Bojangles' largest franchisee acquired by PE firm (2025)
  2. [2] QSR Magazine — Slim Chickens Sharpens its Domestic Growth Playbook for 2026 (2026)
  3. [3] Restaurant Dive — Zaxbys debuts in New York (2026-07)