Layne’s Chicken Fingers CEO on the incredible runway for chicken chains

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Garrett Reed, CEO of Layne’s Chicken Fingers, a Texas-based fast casual that had 40 units at the beginning of this year but plans to double that count by the end of the year — with projections showing it could have more than 500 locations open by 2029. Garrett and his partners acquired Layne’s from founder Mike Layne in 2017 and took three years to develop the model, building out a support team at headquarters and the right infrastructure that would ensure franchisee profitability. With all that work done, Layne’s is now stepping on the accelerator and finding success even as countless other chicken chains race across the country. Garrett joined the podcast to talk about how he thinks the chicken category will shake out in the coming years — and why he thinks there’s room for 4,000 Layne’s units in the U.S. alone.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

• When introducing franchising, take your time and stress test the model
• By ensuring franchisee profitability, you can ensure future growth
• A dose of humility can rev up your business’s growth
• There’s plenty of runway left for chicken — but quality and culture will determine the winners and losers

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at sam.oches@informa.com.