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
Operator profile

SXThree Restaurant Group

Actively developing Golden Chick
20
Chicken units
20
Total units
Central Texas
Headquarters
Central Texas
Primary geography
Alabama, Mississippi

Known activity

  • Largest Golden Chick operator with 20 locations in central Texas1 (2025)
  • Targeting 100 Golden Chick restaurants by 20302 (2025)
  • 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 six2 (2025)
  • Led by CEO Jim Stevens2 (2025)
CSW 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 β€” one operator generating a decade of site-selection and development work.

Development pipeline

BrandMarketCommitmentTimeline
Golden ChickCentral Texas, Alabama, Mississippi2100 units targeted by 2030Through 2030

Swipe the table to see more columns β†’

Related coverage

2026Development

Golden Chick opens its 250th restaurant after a record 23 openings in 20253

What it means for the Chicken Wars: 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 β€” SXThree alone is targeting 100 units by 2030 β€” which makes the operator list, not the brand, the real pipeline.

Sources

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

  1. [1] QSR Magazine β€” Golden Chick Honors Franchisee SXThree with Milestone Award (2025)
  2. [2] Franchise Times β€” Franchisee SXThree Fuels Golden Chick Expansion (2024)
  3. [3] QSR Magazine β€” Golden Chick Opens 250th Restaurant (2026)