Golden Chick is positioning itself as a big name in the chicken space in the Southeastern U.S.
After more than 30 years with Golden Chick, CEO Mark Parmerlee has built up a team to grow the brand in a new way. This updated expansion strategy is bringing the cult favorite chicken brand eastward and against other chicken concepts such as KFC and Chick-fil-A.
“You’re heard of ‘Go West, young man,’,” said Parmerlee. “Well, our project is affectionately called, ‘Go East, old man.’ You can guess who the old man is,” as Parmerlee mentions with a chuckle that he’s 68 years old.
Golden Chick was established in the 1967 as Golden Fried Chicken and Parmerlee bought the company in 1989. The concept is all about fried chicken and its sides—as well as some healthier options including roasted chicken and salads.
Left to right: Michael Parmerlee, Mike Jensen, Mark Parmerlee, and Brian Loescher. CEO Mark Parmerlee promoted internally in preparation for a growth strategy restructure.
Parmerlee began to look at options for a new growth plan to evolve with the times. Previously, the brand had been doing well in its home state of Texas with “a cult following,” said Parmerlee, but he knew the franchise needed to spread its wings.
“We were deemed by a local newspaper as the ‘Walmart of chicken,’ which I found very interesting because we were in a lot of small towns,” he said.
Most of those towns have populations under 10,000. Once established, the brand expanded in a concentric circle. This is still true today, but there’s more focus on going out of state and breaking into a new market.
The first step was to promote a new team to prepare for growth. These promotions include Brian Loescher to president of Golden Chick Franchising Corporation and Michael Parmerlee to president of GFC Leasing Corp and Golden Southern Reality. Mike Jensen was also promoted to president of Golden Operating Corp.
This executive team is already working on expansion strategies and keeping the brand’s history in mind. The team is in talks with several markets, including Puerto Rico, Las Vegas and new markets out east. It’s also working on different marketing avenues, including social media and digital marketing, plus a new jingle written by a previous American Idol contestant.
“We still have plenty of markets to fill in Texas, but as a franchisor, as we get inquiries it’s natural that the footprint of the inquiries begins to grow,” said Parmerlee. “We’re a very hands-on franchisor.”
Golden Chick CEO Mark Parmerlee
That hands-on approach is part of the marketing and culture. Because Golden Chick has traditionally expanded into small towns and had concentric growth, the company has a focus on engaging in the community. This includes encouraging franchisees to work with charities and local events and get involved with local school sports.
These efforts are already paying off. While the brand hasn’t reached the unit count goal for 2030, it did reach its unit volume goals. “We’re going to have to go back and set a new a goal,” said Parmerlee.
Purchasing a Golden Chick franchise will require an initial investment of $440,950 to $1.3 million, not including real estate costs. The brand reports an average unit volume over $1 million in sales.
“I love what I do and who I do it with,” said Parmerlee. “I’d like to have a nice environment as opposed to hair-on-fire growth.”