Burger King franchise partner Al Cabrera has reportedly signed an agreement with fast-casual restaurant chain Slim Chickens to open 60 restaurants in the US.
Under the deal, Cabrera will open 40 restaurants in Indiana and 20 units in Florida, Franchise Times reported.
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It is said to be the biggest franchise agreement for Arkansas-based Slim Chickens, which has around 150 units at present.
An initial investment between $1.1m to $3.4m will be required for opening a single restaurant of the fried chicken concept chain.
According to the chain’s franchise disclosure document, the average unit volume during last year was $1.8m.
Cabrera signed the deal after ‘a lot of due diligence’ including an in-depth examination about the set-up cost, analysis of consumer set as well as competition in the region.
He also told the publication that he is not worried about the quick-service chicken category competition and the ‘superior quality’ of Slim Chickens will stand out.
Cabrera further added: “There’s plenty of business for everybody. I came from the hamburger business… so I’m no stranger to competition.”
In 2006, Cabrera sold 240 Burger King restaurants of Heartland Food to GSO Capital Partners. He currently owns six Burger King restaurants in Florida.
Founded in 2003, Slim Chickens’ menu features chicken tenders, sandwiches, wings, wraps, chicken & waffles, and salads among other items.
In 2019, private equity firm 10 Point Capital invested in the restaurant chain to support its plans to open 600 new locations over the next ten years.
During this month, California Pizza Kitchen launched its first domestic franchise programme to further bolster its presence in the domestic market through franchising opportunities.
