Church’s Chicken is a United States based chain that was founded by George W. Church in 1952.  The company started in San Antonio and now keeps the headquarters in Sandy Springs, Georgia.  They only had four restaurants when Church passed away in 1956 and this is when his son took over the company.  He was murdered in 1962 after the company had expanded into Detroit.  By 1989 Church’s was the second largest chicken restaurant chain and they merged with Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits.  The first female president of a fast-food restaurant chain was Hala Moddelmog and she was appointed the president of Church’s Chicken in 1996.  There are now over 1,650 locations in 22 different countries including Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, and more.  They care currently owned by Friedman Fleischer & Lowe from San Francisco.

Church’s Chicken started as a restaurant that just sold chicken, but in 1955 they added fries and jalapenos to their menu.  It has greatly expanded since and now they serve fried okra, cole slaw, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, biscuits, sandwiches, nuggets, tacos, and more.  They have a much more expansive menu than they started out with, but the chicken is still their major specialty.  The newest item to hit the menu is the spicy chicken that rolled out recently.

There are many Church’s Chicken restaurant franchise opportunities in the United States and in other countries.  If you want to become a franchisee you will have to have at least $650,000 in liquid assets and at least $1.5 million in net worth.  They require that you commit to opening at least 3 restaurants and they do charge some fees.  It will cost $15,000 per restaurant for the franchise fee and $20,000 per restaurant for development.  You will also have to pay a 5% royalty fee and 5% into the advertising fund.  This is based on the gross sales of the units you own.