How Layne’s Chicken Fingers hopes to become the next big thing

A Deeper Dive: Garrett Reed, CEO of the chicken fingers chain, joins the podcast to talk about the company’s plans to move from a hot local brand into a national growth chain. By Jonathan Maze on Jul. 06, 2022

This edition of A Deeper Dive is brought to you by Big Ass Fans.

How do you turn a well-loved local restaurant into a hot national concept?

This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Garrett Reed, CEO of Layne’s Chicken Fingers, to talk about his efforts to take that step.

Layne’s was founded near Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, in 1994. Reed and a partner later purchased the brand, intending on turning it into a franchise. The company currently has nine locations but has deals for many, many more.

Reed discusses that transition and about how the company has sold so many franchises this quickly. He also talks about the brand’s unique franchising strategy and how that should, hopefully, maintain culture even as the concept grows. He also discusses why that culture is important to a brand like Layne’s.

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Restaurant Business Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Maze is a longtime industry journalist who writes about restaurant finance, mergers and acquisitions and the economy, with a particular focus on quick-service restaurants.

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