Founded in San Marcos, Texas, by Howard and Jacque Walker in 1967, Golden Chick has 230 restaurants across Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri.
From small operator to brand president and now multi-unit franchisee, Jim Stevens has done it all with Golden Chick. Now the CEO of SXThree Restaurant Group, he said it’s this latest role that’s providing the most satisfaction.
SXThree, which includes partners Scott Stevenson and Jason Graham, is Golden Chick’s largest operator at 20 locations, mainly in central Texas. The Prosper, Texas-based group, which formed in 2022 and consolidated some existing units, opened six new restaurants in the last two years alone.
Jim Stevens is the CEO of SXThree Restaurant Group, the largest operators of Golden Chick with 20 restaurants.
With new development agreements signed in Alabama and Mississippi, and through extensions of previous deals in Texas and Alabama, SXThree has its sights set on 100 Golden Chicks by 2030.
“Scott, Jason and myself refer to ourselves as corporate castaways, and that’s because we all worked our way up the corporate ladder and then decided what we really wanted was to create our own path as Golden Chick operators,” Stevens said.
Founded in San Marcos, Texas, by Howard and Jacque Walker in 1967, Golden Chick was purchased by the Parmerlee family in 1989. It has 230 restaurants across Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri. The company, which is expanding into Nevada and Alabama soon, opened nine restaurants so far in 2024.
SXThree has fueled much of the company’s recent growth. Stevens’ restaurant group opened restaurants in Lucas, Texas, in January, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in April, and in Killeen, Texas, in July. It expects to add a location in Copperas Cove, Texas, a second in Hattiesburg by the end of this year, with a third new location being constructed in Mobile, Alabama.
“We went into Hattiesburg thinking we can do three there but now we’re thinking we can do six in that market, so we extended that development agreement in central Texas,” said Stevens.
“Alongside the three locations we’ve developed in Dallas-Fort Worth, we’ve targeted markets like central Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Alabama for both current and future growth. These markets have provided us with great opportunities to open restaurants due to their size and affordability.”
Before Golden Chick, Stevens was the chief operating officer of Japanese fast-food chain Yoshinoya America, and his resume includes leadership roles at Checkers and Rally’s, Captain D’s and Arby’s. He got his start in restaurants with Yum Brands after graduating from Northern Arizona University’s hotel and restaurant program. He got into Golden Chick as a franchisee in 2018 and then served as the brand president from 2019 to 2021 at the request of Mark Parmerlee, the CEO.
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As Stevens grew tired of corporate life, he decided to step down from his executive position with Golden Chick and exchange a six-figure salary and all the benefits that go with it to take a more hands-on role in the day-to-day of his franchise operation.
As he half joked, “I gave up a nice salary for a $30,000 a year job that comes with all the stress and headaches of owning restaurants. But it was important to me because I wanted that responsibility and to say the buck stops here.”
Each member of SXThree brings a unique skill set. Like Stevens, Stevenson is a Golden Chick insider. Along with being a franchisee, he serves on the company’s executive team as vice president of development. Graham, a real estate developer in Mississippi, meanwhile, has played a key role in debuting Golden Chick in his home state.
With Beth Carr, who previously worked for Arby’s and Max & Erma’s, serving as vice president of operations, SXThree has a strong team of operators. Stevens said the unit volumes of their Golden Chicks are about $1.5 million.
“My partner Scott, Beth and myself have all been in the industry for over 30 years at a variety of levels. Our experience allows us to have a deeper understanding on all things, from real estate to operations or marketing to finance, so we don’t let grass grow under our feet,” said Stevens whose wife, Susan has taken on the role of chief administrative officer for SXThree.
“As for the pace of opening restaurants, our collective knowledge and Jason Graham’s expertise in development allows us to execute quickly and efficiently,” he said.