Layne's Chicken Fingers’ CEO Talks Franchise Expansion Plans for Texas and Beyond

Layne’s Chicken Fingers may have been born near the campus of Texas A&M University, but as CEO Garrett Reed tells D Magazine, it has plans for chicken domination in the rest of the Lone Star State and beyond. 

“All the pieces are in place now: the real estate piece is in place, our operations team is in place and now, our corporate, back-of-the-house position is in place,” Reed told the Dallas lifestyle publication.

Based in Frisco, Texas, which is in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metropolitan area, Layne’s Soon to be Famous™ Chicken Fingers plans to open 30 to 35 locations in that market and 100 to 120 locations across the state. And Layne’s is moving fast. Reed told the magazine that the brand opened its first franchise location in Katy, Texas, just outside Houston in June of 2020 and is already working on the next few in the area.

The brand’s affinity for Houston and Dallas-Ft. Worth makes sense, despite its birth near Texas A&M, which is in College Station, about three hours away from each. The brand became something of a cult legend with students, a.k.a. Aggies, but as they matriculate and find work in Texas metro areas, their memories of crispy chicken fingers linger. So for any self-respecting, meat-eating Aggie, the college nostalgia Layne’s evokes is almost too good to resist.

But Reed won’t be satisfied with just Texas domination. A former real estate specialist with Starbucks, he bought Layne’s in 2015 with the intention of transforming it from a local campus icon to a national brand. He says the brand has what it takes to go up against the likes of chicken finger heavyweights like Raising Cane’s and Slim Chickens. 

The brand is eyeing Colorado, Northern Virginia, New York and New Jersey as its next franchise growth opportunities, Reed told D.

“Right now, we are hitting all cylinders, and then we will literally open up the floodgates,” Reed said.

Read the entire article here.