ATLANTA — Church's Chicken said it plans to accelerate growth as it announced recently that San Francisco private equity firm Friedman Fleischer & Lowe closed on a deal to buy the Atlanta-based chicken chain.
Church's, which has more than 1,600 outlets, expects to add more than 100 stores this year, surpassing last year's total of 93, Church's President and CEO Harsha Agadi said.
 CURTIS COMPTON/Cox Newspapers In April, Mike Reagin, left, with Madison Industries, lowered the first half of the Church's Chicken first prototype modular restaurant to it's foundation on in Lawrenceville, Ga. For a larger, high resolution image, click HERE |
It's already opened 77 stores this year and recently bought 23 Mrs. Winner's stores in the Nashville area that will be converted to Church's Chicken restaurants, he said.
Church's expects the expansion to be split equally between international and domestic markets, Agadi said. The chain has signed a letter of intent to open a restaurant in Iraq late this year or early next year under the Texas Chicken name, he said. Church's uses the Texas name for international markets.
Arcapita, a Bahrain-based investment firm with an Atlanta office, announced in June that it planned to sell Church's to Friedman Fleischer & Lowe for an undisclosed price. Arcapita acquired Church's in 2004 from AFC Enterprises, the parent company of rival chicken chain Popeyes.
Joe Guy Collier writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
