Zaxby’s, the Georgia-based fast-casual chicken restaurant chain, has plans to expand aggressively in the Oklahoma City market, with as many as 28 locations over the next five to six years.
Zaxby’s average ticket price is between $9 and $10, with a menu that includes chicken fingers and chicken sandwiches.
The brand has about 600 locations in the United States, primarily in the Southeast.
Zaxby’s franchisee Sterling Coleman already operates seven Zaxby’s stores in the Atlanta area and said he believed Oklahoma City is a good opportunity for expansion. Coleman has the rights to develop Zaxby’s for the entire Oklahoma City market.
He plans to break ground in February on his first metro area location at 1839 W Main in Norman on a site that was formerly a Long John Silver’s restaurant. The new Zaxby’s is projected to open sometime in the second quarter of the year.
“The brand was continuing to grow in the Midwest,” Coleman said. “Because it is a college town, I thought that Norman near the university would be a good market for me to start in.”
The real estate firm NAI Sullivan Group is helping Sterling hunt for potential restaurant sites in the Oklahoma City metro area.
Zaxby’s is searching for class-A, free-standing retail sites that can support a drive-thru in dense, high-traffic areas for restaurant locations, said Sam Swanson, retail and investment specialist for NAI Sullivan, which is representing Zaxby’s in Oklahoma City.
“They want to really come into this market pretty hot, so we are looking everywhere from Edmond to Yukon and even in sub-markets like Midwest City,” Swanson said.
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