Texas Chicken™ and Church’s Texas Chicken™ confirmed plans to further expand its global presence this year with the opening of 100 new restaurants across the Americas, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
The expansion, serving as one of the largest-ever of its kind for the company, follows the opening of a flagship restaurant in Qatar. Based in Medina Centrale, The Pearl location has captured the attention of locals upon launching last November, drawing in record first-month sales through its advertising campaign and design. So far, the new establishment has surpassed the sales projections set for the Doha location, which is owned and operated by franchisee Premium Limited Group.
According to a related press release, the franchise has also mentioned potential launches in Canada, Mexico, Malaysia, Thailand and Saudi Arabia this year, noting the regions as "major growth markets." Texas Chicken™ is also scoping out the market potential of Egypt, planning its launch for 2023.
To further support its international expansion, the global chicken chain has welcomed QSR sector veteran Ignacio Barbadillo as its new director of International New Business Development. Based in Madrid, the executive is tasked with finding franchise groups to further strengthen the global reach of the company, the press release reports.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ignacio, an industry standout whose deep expertise will support our continued efforts to develop meaningful franchise relationships and drive increased market share, unit growth and EBITDA,” said Russ Sumrall, senior vice president, International Strategic Development for Church’s Texas Chicken™ and Texas Chicken™ Brands. “He has already jumped right in with the strategic insights and energetic passion that will move us forward as we look to extend our solid reputation as a competitive leader in the chicken QSR space around the world.”
With more than 20 years of leadership and franchise relations experience under his belt, he most recently served as global development leader at General Mills-Haagen-Daz Shops where he oversaw its global development strategy and specialized in franchise recruitment.
"Quick service chicken is a fast-growing segment with tremendous opportunity for growth in almost every corner of the world," Barbadillo said. "Our differentiated, high-quality product along with the company’s ambitious plans for growth and the genuine love its people have for the brand are what attracted me to this incredibly exciting role."
Some of the signature items the new locations will offer are the “hand-battered and double-breaded original and spicy chicken, scratch-made honey-butter biscuits, family meals, sandwiches, wraps, individual combos, homestyle sides and desserts.”