Big Chicken, the star-powered chicken concept founded by basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, announced Thursday the signed leases of two new locations coming to the Greater Chattanooga area.
These leases are the first in a 10-unit agreement across the cities of Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga for local restaurateur Jim Richards. Big Chicken Chattanooga, in the Riverfront neighborhood at 410 Broad St., is set to be the first location to open in Tennessee. Not long after, Big Chicken in Hixson, at 5118 Hixson Pike, plans to start welcoming guests in late 2023.
“The ‘wow’ factor behind Big Chicken is its big food, big flavor and big fun, and we’re confident that both the Chattanooga and Hixson locations will quickly become the go-to spot for lunch and dinner in the Greater Chattanooga area,” said Mr. Richards, who has more than four decades of restaurant experience. “Our team has been operating restaurants in the area since 2007, and we’re thrilled at the visibility that being located off of Broad Street and in the heart of Downtown Hixson will bring to this concept.”
Mr. Richards’ background in the franchise and restaurant industries stems from his ownership of 13 Five Guys restaurants in Tennessee and North Georgia, as well as Fiamma Pizza Company alongside partner Brion Voges, through his company GPR Hospitality LLC. With connections of his own in the industry, Mr. Voges, along with Mr. Richards’ other business partners and associates Andrew Gardner, Bruce Bowman and Rodney Hutson look forward to operating their Big Chicken locations in Chattanooga and Hixson.
“The excitement that Jim brings to his businesses couldn’t be any bigger, and is exactly what we look for in our franchise owners,” said Josh Halpern, CEO of Big Chicken. “He and his team know exactly what Chattanooga-area residents need and are more than capable of meeting their demand for high-quality ingredients and trending flavors. We’re looking forward to making our BIG entrance in Tennessee with these leases.”
The new restaurants will add to the 250-plus locations in development nationwide for the brand. In addition to its Las Vegas locations (Paradise Road and Tropicana Ave.), Big Chicken currently has locations open in Los Angeles (Glendale and Valencia); Las Vegas (Paradise Road and Tropicana Ave.); Seattle (Renton and Mukilteo); Houston; Rosemont, Illinois and in the Dayton, Ohio region, as well as in metro-New York’s UBS Arena, The Comcast Center in Philadelphia, The Moody Center in Austin, ASU’s Mullett Arena, Palm Spring’s Acrisure Arena, St. Louis’s Busch Stadium, Kansas City International Airport and on three Carnival Cruise ships.
To learn more about the Big Chicken franchise opportunity, visit www.bigchicken.com/franchise-information.