Church's Chicken franchise expands in Middle Tennessee

Date AddedSeptember 25, 2009 01:47:31 PM

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Calling the recession a good time to expand fast-food businesses, officials of the Atlanta-based Church's Chicken chain say they're bullish on the Nashville market in spite of the economic downturn.Advertisement
And they're confident that 23 newly acquired Mrs. Winner's Chicken & Biscuits locations in the area will turn out to be a good fit. Mrs. Winner's retains a handful of locations here.
Fast-food eateries - known in the industry as "quick-service" restaurants - have not been immune to the recession, analysts say, although they have fared much better than casual and fine-dining establishments.
"Generally, quick-service restaurants are better positioned from the standpoint of the average check, which is in the $5 to $6 range per person," said William Fahy, a senior analyst at Moody's Investors Service who follows the restaurant industry. "Consumer spending has been down, and the quick-service restaurants are on the lower end pricewise."
Meanwhile, many high-end, casual and fine-dining restaurants have seen business spending fall, with fewer companies allowing employees to eat out on an expense account, Fahy said.
"People just aren't eating out as much, because so many are unemployed or their savings are depleted," Fahy said. "It's tough for everyone in the restaurant business."
Nevertheless, Church's officials believe their Mrs. Winner's locations takeover in Middle Tennessee will position the chicken chain for even better sales when the recession ends, said James M. Parrish, the chain's chief operating officer.
"Church's is certainly not recession-proof," he said. "We had a great 2008, but began to struggle in the second quarter this year."
The company began looking at a deal with Mrs. Winner's a couple of years ago, Parrish said.
"We saw Nashville as a significant opportunity for us," he said. "We do extremely well in ethnic and low-income markets ... (Nashville) is one of the biggest opportunities for our brand, and we were looking for a vehicle to expand quickly and affordably."
The company has already converted six of the 23 locations into Church's stores and will complete the rest by the end of October.