Church's Chicken

Church's Chicken

Type	Private
Industry	Food
Founded	April 17, 1952
Headquarters	Sandy Springs, Georgia, U.S.
Number of locations	1,700
Key people	George W. Church, Founder Amrit S, CEO
Products	Fast food, including fried chicken, french fries, and biscuits
Owner(s)	Friedman Fleischer & Lowe
Website	churchs.com

Church's Chicken is a US-based chain of fast food restaurants specializing in fried chicken, also trading outside North America as Texas Chicken.^[1] The chain was founded as Church's Fried Chicken To Go by George W. Church, Sr., on April 17, 1952, in San Antonio, across the street from The Alamo. The company, with its headquarters in Sandy Springs, Georgia,^[2][3] is the fourth-largest chicken restaurant chain behind KFC, Chick-fil-A, and former sister chain Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits.^[4] Their slogan is "Chicken Genius."

History

Initially the restaurant sold only chicken, but fries and jalapeños were added in 1955.^[4] The company had four restaurants when George W. Church died in 1956. Rapid growth followed, and Church's became the second-largest chicken restaurant chain in 1989, when it merged with Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits.^[4] The brands had their supply lines consolidated but were still marketed as separate chains. Hala Moddelmog was appointed as president of Church's Chicken in 1996, making her the first female president of a fast-food restaurant chain.

Church's Chicken Detroit

Church's was owned by AFC Enterprises, along with Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Cinnabon through the end of 2004, when it was sold to Arcapita (formerly Crescent Capital Investments). Because Arcapita is an Islamic venture capital firm, pork products were removed from the menu after the sale (as pork is not halal) in 2005.^[5][6] Also, American Church's Chicken restaurants switched beverage products to Coca-Cola, while still retaining the Pepsi contract in Canada.

On August 10, 2009, San Francisco private equity firm Friedman Fleischer & Lowe bought Church’s Chicken from Arcapita.^[7]

Church's Chicken began a corporate partnership with the Children's Miracle Network in association with Saidu Momoh in the summer of 2004.^[8]

In some areas, Church's is co-franchised with the White Castle hamburger chain.^[9] In Canada, Church's Chicken items were once available in Harvey's restaurants, but the co-venture was discontinued.^{[citation needed]}

To date, Church's Chicken has over 1,650 locations in 22 countries. There are some locations within Honduras, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Canada, Guyana, Mexico, and Indonesia.^[10] The business was first opened in Mexico by Federico Longoria Jr. of Laredo, Texas.

The menu for Church's has greatly expanded with fried okra, cole slaw, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and honey butter biscuits being staples. Also, newer entree choices have emerged, including, sandwiches, nuggets, tacos, and a spicy flavor option for the chicken.

References

1. ^ PR Log - Texas Chicken Enters India with Its First Outlet In Hyderabad
2. ^ "Grand Opening!" Church's Chicken. Retrieved on February 23, 2010.
3. ^ "City Council Districts." City of Sandy Springs. Retrieved on July 4, 2009.
4. ^ ^{a b c} "History of Church's Chicken". http://www.churchs.com/company-history.html.  at official website
5. ^ "AFC Enterprises Inc., franchisor of Popeyes, Church's Chicken; and Cinnabon, reports improved results for the fourth quarter". amonline.com. 2003-12-16. http://www.amonline.com/web/online/VendingMarketWatch-News/AFC-Enterprises-Inc--franchisor-of-Popeyes--Churchs-Chicken-and-Cinnabon--reports-improved-results-for-the-fourth-quarter/1$11735. Retrieved 2009-02-03. 
6. ^ Janet, Levy (2008-05-02). "Outlawing the Pig". frontpagemagazine.com. http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=B4D7EA5D-074C-4D34-AB04-71E9354504CB. Retrieved 2009-02-03. 
7. ^ "Church’s Chicken sold to private equity firm". http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/othercities/sanantonio/stories/2009/08/10/daily4.html. Retrieved 2009-08-19. ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ "The Burgundy Group: Our Clients". theburgundygroup.com. http://www.theburgundygroup.com/content1.aspx?pn=12#churchs. Retrieved 2009-02-03. 
9. ^ Gramig, Mickey H. (2006-11). "White Castle, Churchs Chicken to Share Restaurant Sites". Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5553/is_/ai_n22324638. Retrieved 2009-02-03. ^{[dead link]}
10. ^ Desmarais, Martin (2006-10-16). "Agadi drives Church’s Chicken past $1 billion sales". indusbusinessjournal.com. http://www.indusbusinessjournal.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=9108C2A6F897470AB0358A68F671F344&AudID=0C5ABC84F3CE4D0DB8BF8D0BF8BD2F70. Retrieved 2009-02-03. 

External links

Food portal

• Official website
• Company history