With six restaurants open in Kansas, South Dakota and Texas, Chick N Max is in the early development stages, but the brand is eyeing rapid growth. The company reports an active pipeline and plans on slow, steady growth with three to five openings a year.
Call it fate. Or maybe destiny is a better descriptor. Then again, maybe it’s another one of those “what a small world” stories.
This much is certain: When Jason Kruse signed a multi-unit deal to open three Chick N Max restaurants in southwestern Missouri, it reconnected him with the brand’s founder, a former neighbor of his in Newton, Kansas.
Jason Kruse signed a multi-unit deal to open three Chick N Max restaurants in southwestern Missouri.
“He lived something like five houses away from me,” Kruse said about Max Sheets, who founded Chick N Max in 2017 in Wichita, Kansas, which is 27 miles from where Kruse and Sheet grew up. “Both our fathers were dentists and so they knew of each other in a small town, but I didn’t really know Max growing up there. He was a few years older than me. But I knew the name and I can’t help but think maybe it was just meant to be.”
Kruse, a longtime Subway operator in Missouri who at one time owned as many as 18 shops, said he would’ve franchised with Chick N Max even without his connection to Sheets. He said he loved the food and had a great experience at the brand’s discovery day.
Max Sheets founded Chick N Max in 2017 in Wichita, Kansas.
Still, he’s reassured by his past neighbor running the brand. Chick N Max differentiates itself in the crowded chicken concept market with an expanded menu that features nearly a dozen smoked chicken sandwiches and a large selection of homemade sauces and sides dishes.
This is the second food concept for Kruse, who owns six Subways, three in Kansas and three in Missouri.
“I was actually thinking about winding it down after running Subway shops for 25 years. I really wasn’t thinking about diversifying my portfolio until I learned about Chick N Max,” said Kruse. “I love everything about the brand. The food is incredibly good. I have no doubt that if you build Chick N Max, the people will keep coming back for more.”
With six restaurants open in Kansas, South Dakota and Texas, Chick N Max is in the early development stages, but the brand is eyeing rapid growth. The company reports an active pipeline and plans on slow, steady growth with three to five openings a year.
Chick N Max signed a 25-unit development agreement with a franchise veteran along with a three-unit deal in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and a 25-unit deal in Kansas.
Coming out of COVID-19 in 2021, the company said sales grew 30 percent. Since then, Chick N Max claims to have consistently experienced double-digit sales and customer growth.
The total investment to open a Chick N Max ranges from $410,500 to $997,500, according to the company’s franchise disclosure document.
Kruse said his first restaurant will likely be a 1,200- to 1,300-square-foot drive-thru business in Springfield, Missouri, with the hope of opening that location this year. He said one of his next two locations will likely be a full-size restaurant, closer to 1,900 square feet with indoor seating for about 40.
“I wish I had drive-thru for my Subways, but when I signed my leases years ago it wasn’t really an option. From what I understand, 50 percent of Chick N Max sales are drive-thru, so it’s an important part of the business,” said Kruse.
Kruse said his six Subways are turning in decent profits, although he conceded it gets more challenging every year with thinning profit margins. He said he only had to close down one underperforming store in the last 25 years and he recently paid back all his bank loans.
“Subway has changed a lot since I started and I’ve had a good run with them and have no plan to sell,” said Kruse, who was unaware that Subway’s sale to Roark was finalized earlier this month. “Chick N Max, meanwhile, is new and exciting and I know it will do well. I just to have go through the process of signing leases, getting them approved and built.”
One of the most important lessons Kruse said he learned as a Subway operator is to not stop expanding after opening your first locations.
“Someone at Subway told me right from the beginning is take your money from the first location and go buy a second one as quickly as possible,” Kruse said. “He said you really have to have at least five locations if you want to be successful.
“That’s my plan with Chick N Max,” Kruse said. “I’ll start with three locations and then look at adding more.”