Church's Chicken's franchise development team is looking to its current franchisees to refresh their existing restaurants and sign new agreements to open more restaurants. The recruiting team is part of a contingent that has converged on Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the company's annual convention.


"We've found that some of the best developers of new Church's restaurants are current Church's franchisees," said Doug Pendergast, Executive Vice President and Chief Franchise Officer. "We continue to grow our franchise system with new developers; however, our existing franchisees are an obvious talent pool, with a proven track record.

"And with chicken consumption at an all-time high, double digit increases in our customer counts, a growing customer base and reduced development costs, developing new Church's stores is a compelling prospect, more than ever."

Pioneering technologies and consistent development innovations provide Church's franchisees simple, efficient and profitable expansion opportunities. A strategic partnership with Minneapolis-based Fullerton Building Systems shaves up to 45 days off the build-out process. The restaurant's panels are constructed offsite then shipped to the new site where the structure's exterior is raised in less than nine hours.

The Church's development team will also be discussing their phased re-image program with all franchisees attending the convention. An efficient process by which older-model Church's restaurants are updated, both inside and out in just three steps, substantially increasing comp sales performance at a nominal cost.

This three step process was recently implemented by a franchisee on two of his Las Vegas restaurants, saving him over 50% of the previous costs without sacrificing any visible attributes. Many franchisees will visit the restaurants during the convention to observe, first hand, the ease with which the process was completed.

"Our franchisees are the lynchpin of Church's growth strategy," said Pendergast. "We want to present them with new opportunities to grow their business as we grow the Brand."