Stan Klaus, a restaurant-industry veteran, is the newest franchise partner for Arkansas-based Slim Chickens and will be developing 9 Slim Chickens restaurants across his territory, which includes Chattanooga, Nashville and Knoxville. Given its central location, Klaus will be relocating from Atlanta to Chattanooga which will serve as the hub for his expansion of Slim Chickens in the state of Tennessee.About the company• Name: Slim Chickens• Started: Fayetteville, Ark., in 2003• No. of locations: 15 units, 9 company owned and six franchised units• Founders: Greg Smart and Tom Gordon• Typical restaurant size: 100 to 125 seats• Estimated 2014 revenues: $15 million to $20 million• Goal: 600 restaurants by 2025• Average meal price: Just over $8• Tagline: “Life-changing Chicken”• Who is slim? Slim is our nod to the life changing legends of the south–the musicians, the storytellers, the food and the soul…the eternally cool.• Web site: www.slimchickens.com
Another fast-food chicken restaurant is about to land in Chattanooga.
At Atlanta franchisee for Slim Chickens is planning to open nine of the Delta blues-flavored chicken eateries in Tennessee with new eateries planned in Chattanooga, Nashville and Knoxville over the next several years. The additional units planned by Atlanta businessman Stan Klaus are among more than 500 Slim Chickens restaurants that its backers hope to add to the 11-year-old chain over the next decade or so to tap into America’s growing appetite for poultry.
Stan Klaus, a restaurant industry veteran who worked with the founder of Applebee’s to grow the chain through the 1980s and 1990s, says he got bored after retiring two years ago. Klaus, 59, said he was enticed back into the restaurant industry by the unique fare offered by Slim Chickens and its growth potential.
“When I went down to Fayetteville (Arkansas) and saw the concept and the people, I fell in love with it,” said Klaus, who formed Life Changing Hospitality LLC to develop the new restaurants. “I spent seven weeks in Fayetteville working with these folks and I didn’t talk to one dissatisfied customer.”