Guthrie’s, a 57-year-old chicken-fingers-only chain, is expanding beyond its southeastern footprint thanks to a new agreement to develop units in several western states.
Existing franchisees Stephen Galbraith and Matt Dahlhauser, through their Dahlhauser Galbraith Operating Companies, signed a 50-unit area development agreement for new locations in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and New Mexico, with the option for an additional 50. The duo owns five Guthrie’s restaurants in Alabama and Georgia, and with a national real estate portfolio that includes shopping centers plans to leverage those holdings to begin opening stores.
In addition to real estate and their Guthrie’s units, the franchisees have developed other concepts and, said Galbraith, they also operate water outfitting companies, gas stations and truck stops.
Guthrie’s shifted its focus to chicken fingers in the early ’80s.
Galbraith said their approach to opening truck stops is part of what inspired them to commit to so many Guthrie’s units in the new deal. “When you work with truck stops and consider opening more, we look at dots on the map,” Galbraith said. “We looked at the map and Guthrie’s didn’t have a ton, so with that it gives some flexibility to come in and say ‘we’re going to do a bunch.’”
The 50 new units will more than double the existing unit count for Guthrie’s, which has 46 restaurants open in seven states. Galbraith and Dahlhauser are prioritizing Las Vegas, Reno, Nevada, and Boise, Idaho, for initial development and as area developers will operate stores in addition to signing franchisees.
“They started putting this plan together about a year ago,” said Joe Kelly Guthrie, CEO of Guthrie’s Franchising. “We plan to sell other franchises and open corporate stores, but at this time, corporate will not be opening stores that far out west, so we thought it was a good deal for us.”
Galbraith said he expects to push a fast pace of development. “Obviously, operating 50 doesn’t happen overnight,” he said. “It takes a few years to get to that point, but I think if we have this conversation in about 18 months, I think a lot of people will be surprised how many we have open and operating. We should be pretty close to having half open.”
One of the advantages of Guthrie’s that gives Galbraith confidence in the brand is the efficiency of the model thanks to the products revolving around chicken fingers.
“The training is simpler because the menu is simpler,” Galbraith said. “With that, it’s still high quality. Sometimes when you get a little too crazy with a menu, quality or consistency can suffer. But we’re bullish that when you show up at one of our stores, you’re getting great quality, and the staff doesn’t have a whole bunch of stuff to figure out on the menu side.”
Guthrie’s CEO Joe Kelly Guthrie.
The agreement comes not long after the brand introduced a new drive-thru-only model as it works to increase its footprint. Founded in 1965 by Hal Guthrie, the brand began exclusively focusing on chicken fingers in 1982. Joe Kelly Guthrie, son of the founder, said the company is benefitting from being in a popular segment.
“Chicken is the hottest segment in food and chicken finger restaurants are one of the hottest segments in chicken,” Guthrie said. “Expansion is the name of the game right now for us. We’re in a real big growth spurt over the last four years, we’ve redesigned some things and have created a new prototype that everybody is loving. Guthrie’s is functioning really well.”
To open a Guthrie’s, the initial investment range is between $261,050 and $569,200.