Layne’s Chicken Fingers Brings Its Fried Chicken to Pittsburgh on August 28

Born and Breaded in Texas, Layne’s Soon to be Famous™ Chicken Fingers is broadening its reach outside its home state. Its most recent expansion is a restaurant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in close proximity to the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Healthcare System. The fried chicken restaurant is set to open at 3621 Forbes Avenue on August 28 with a grand opening on September 1.

To celebrate the growth, Anna Niklasson, head of marketing for the franchise owner, explained that Layne’s of Pittsburgh will have a prize wheel available for guests to spin for a chance to win a range of prizes, including promotional merchandise and free menu items. The Layne’s Pittsburgh team is also sponsoring a Year of Layne’s giveaway for one lucky guest to win free Layne’s for a full year.

Ahmer’e Blackman, district manager for the restaurant, explained that, while this is exciting growth, it is just the start for Layne’s in Pennsylvania and surrounding areas.

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Blackman: Initially, my background is in music, and I started working in food just to have income to support college. My employer at the time kind of blew up in a way that I wasn't really expecting, and the career pipeline just kind of fell into my lap. So after working there for almost 10 years, my previous supervisor who was on board with Henry, recruited me to come on board whenever they started a lot of the projects with franchises. I’ve been with Henry officially for two years now, and our current project is to open some Layne’s Chicken Fingers* restaurants.

Niklasson: I've actually been with this company for 16 years. I really started out more so in a sales support and then sales role. Being that we did a lot of licensed projects and products, I've kind of moved on to marketing. But the thing that I really love about it is it really is about getting people excited about what we do best. That just translates into anything that we're doing, and now it's going to be in our service and our food at Layne’s.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

Blackman: A lot of the time in more corporate models, everything is structured in a way where not everyone has a clear growth or development plan. So for me, opening franchise locations, I feel that, as we continue to open more locations, we're creating more opportunities for people. Whether it's just general employment with support staff or if they're looking to pursue a more administrative role, it gives us the ability to teach people new skills. A lot of these skills, you learn them from experience; there's only so much that you can learn within a university to prepare you for an administrative role. But actually getting that experience in real-time and not needing that kind of education, I think it's very rewarding and unique.

Niklasson: I thought that it was going to be not as fluid with ideas, and we've been really excited that Layne’s is really open to engaging within our own community and where we're establishing ourselves and supporting that. It has been exciting and different than we thought that the journey would be. We thought it would probably be a little bit more corporate.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Blackman: There aren’t many places that you can go to get chicken fingers that actually taste good and are made fresh from raw ingredients. From mixing the flour with the seasoning blend to actually marinating the chicken, there’s a lot more TLC that goes into the process at Layne’s. One of the things that excites me is that the customers get to enjoy fresh food that actually tastes good, and team members are making food that tastes good, smells good and is something that they can ultimately feel very proud about. That’s something I’m big on — people being able to feel proud of the work they’re doing.

Niklasson: For me, it’s that we get to be part of the brand's journey of getting that excitement around Layne’s up. I feel like, in a lot of places outside of Texas, no one knows it. So we kind of get to introduce it and help it grow. I'm excited about that because we've been telling this story now to people that we're meeting as we're opening our restaurants, and people are getting really excited.

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth? 

Blackman: There’s a pretty big plan to grow. We have all of Pennsylvania, all of West Virginia and a lot of Ohio. We’re contracted for at least five restaurants but it could grow well beyond that.

1851: What is the one thing about your story you want us to know?

Blackman: I’m in a role I never thought I would be doing right now. Being able to work with everyone on our team and benchmark off one another has really helped me grow individually and learn a lot of different skills from other people that I can apply to the business.

Niklasson: As a company, no matter what area or department you’re in, we’ve really come together to create excitement. Everyone has touched a piece of this project, and it has unified us in a way that makes us all very excited for the future.

The chicken puns are so prevalent around here. The culture is so light and fun, and it’s clear that this was a good franchise choice for us because that’s in line with the Layne’s culture. We love the job.

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming a franchise owner?

Blackman: If you're looking to become a franchisee, definitely talk to people, especially if you're unsure. I feel like you really need to connect with other people who have been through the process. I am not one to typically take on a task if I'm not very confident that I can execute it well, so I think talking with other people who've been through the process and knowing what the challenges and benefits are is extremely helpful. 

Regardless of what you do, there will always be challenges. It's just a matter of the support that you have. There is a bit of a risk factor that goes into it, but if you're executing well and you have a support team and have the resources available around you, then that will definitely help you move the needle forward and grow your business. 

Niklasson: I definitely think that reaching out to local franchisees from different franchisors that you might be interested in investing with and speaking with them, their team or their district manager to get a feel for the day-to-day is very helpful.

The initial investment required to begin the operation of a Layne’s Chicken Fingers business is $545,000-$1,190,000. To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/layneschickenfingers/info. 

ABOUT LAYNE’S CHICKEN FINGERS

Founded in 1994 in College Station, the original location became a Texas A&M legend known for its small-town charm, friendly service, iconic chicken fingers and secret sauce. While opening corporate locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the leadership team focused on fine tuning its operations and starting to franchise.  Now, the company is planning to bring Layne’s Soon to be Famous™ Chicken Fingers to the rest of the world with plans to open 100 locations in the next four years. Learn more about franchising: https://www.layneschickenfingers.com/franchising/