How Layne’s Chicken Fingers Taps into In-House Real Estate and Construction Team for a Seamless Buildout

Layne’s Chicken Fingers, the Soon to be Famous™ fried chicken concept, is, in many ways, an emerging concept that packs a punch. The 10-restaurant concept continues to embrace menu innovation, has consumer-facing support and offers in line with those of bigger brands and offers franchisee support with the backing and expertise of long-term restaurant real estate pros.

“By working with Layne’s, the franchise owners really get a high-powered real estate team that works with national brands,” explained Garret Reed, CEO of Layne’s Chicken Fingers and principal at Main & Main Capital Group. “Layne’s is small but huge. We have a real estate department that can rival any national brand because they work for national brands.”

Why Is Real Estate Support Important?

“A lot of franchisees’ day-to-day job is not to build restaurants,” Reed said. “They may build two or three restaurants in a year if they’re growing quickly, so they really just don’t have the expertise. Having Main & Main there to support the franchisees and provide an expert opinion can save them a lot of time and money in the long run.”

Main & Main is not working directly for the franchisees or with the individual contractors, but the group’s leadership is available to consult franchisees throughout the process.

“We’re not going to be the real estate broker for the franchisee,” Samir Wattar, COO of Layne’s, added. “What we do is provide the guidance and support they need when their broker presents sites. We can see and evaluate the sites and guide the franchisee on how to negotiate with the broker.”

The Power of an In-House Real Estate Team

Ultimately, the restaurant belongs to and is the responsibility of the franchisee. However, the integration of Layne’s and Main & Main provides franchisees with expertise far beyond what they would receive from a more traditional franchise model.

“For example, we recently had a franchisee sign with a general contractor and start building. Justin [Olivieri] did a walk-through the other day on FaceTime with the franchisee and the general contractor, and he pointed out a bunch of stuff that needed to be fixed,” Reed said. “The franchisees often don’t have the ability to catch these issues, and it’s not their fault, it’s just not what they do. With Main & Main in the mix, a Layne’s franchise agreement has an extra layer of consulting that owners typically aren’t going to get unless they’re working with another real-estate-specific company.”

With this backing, franchisees are empowered to choose the real estate options, contractors and processes that best suit their needs and those of the business. Main & Main professionals can easily point out areas where a contractor may be overselling, underperforming or cutting corners.

Without this support, the franchisee could potentially see the construction run its course and be notified of issues after the fact, which can affect opening dates, costs and, ultimately, profitability.

“Franchisees sign up with a franchisor because they want expertise,” Wattar said. “That’s what we’ve provided. Like we say, we’re not in the restaurant business at Layne’s Chicken Franchising — we’re in the service business. What we do is provide service to the franchisees. We do everything we can to protect the franchisee and the brand along the way.”

In 2023, Reed says he aims to consolidate the two corporate enterprises under a single holding company. Ultimately, this will allow the group to sell and service franchisees even more efficiently, providing a turnkey business opportunity.

With support through all processes on the real estate and people sides, each owner will be prepared to select the best-fitting site, secure a fair bid, execute buildout in industry-standard time, obtain proper restaurant-level training, secure advantageous supply-chain relationships and approach grand opening day prepared to secure instant cash flow.

Franchise opportunities range from $656,000 - $1,280,500 with different buildout options available. Learn more about franchising here.