The executives of a longtime Phoenix company, Barnett Management Company, have signed an agreement with fast-growing Slim Chickens to open 32 Arizona restaurants as the exclusive state operator over a period of 10 years.
Barnett Management Company plans to open the first location in the West Valley by the end of 2022 with potential locations near Loop 101 and Northern Avenue and then open two to three per year over 10 years across the state, including Flagstaff, Tucson and Yuma. You are looking for 1-2 acres of land to accommodate a porch for dining and a three-lane drive through near freeways in high-traffic areas. The restaurants, which offer chicken tenders, chicken sandwiches, 17 homemade dipping sauces, and even fried okra and pickles, will be open seven days a week.
Barnett Management Company, which was founded in 1979 with a Burger King location in Phoenix, currently owns more than 50 Burger King locations in Arizona and was founded by Burger King Corp. in 2014. honored with the national Franchisee of the Year award, owner and CEO Tom Barnett won a Corvette and Rolex watch, which he immediately sold to give rewards to his managers. Barnett Management’s partners have also added their own money to the cash pool to create a total of $ 120,000 in employee bonuses. The news that Barnett was converting his grand prize into cash and rewarding his staff quickly spread and became viral coverage from coast to coast. Sample coverage: Time, People, ABC News, Grubstreet, and the Republic of Arizona.
Arizona Slim Chickens restaurants are run by Barnett and Shane Jacobs, a partner with Barnett Management and the new restaurant company AZ Slims.
“We firmly believe in investing in our people and treating people well,” says Barnett. “In our 42 years running Burger Kings in Arizona, all of our managers have started in lower positions and worked their way up. Everyone lends a hand and takes care of each other. This philosophy has brought us great success and we expect Slim Chickens in Arizona to do very well with this approach. “
Slim Chickens, based in Arkansas, has a strategic, multi-unit franchise growth initiative. The “better-chicken” brand has opened more than 140 locations in the USA and Great Britain. With more than 650 locations under development, the brand’s momentum cannot be slowed down.
“Slim Chickens is one of the fastest growing restaurant brands in the country,” said Jackie Lobdell, Vice President of Franchise Development for Slim Chickens. “I gave Tom Barnett this opportunity because he was highly recommended as an exceptional multi-unit operator. I am very excited about our partnership and the expansion of our brand in Arizona with the Barnett team. “
Jacobs, who has over 20 years of QSR experience and has served on several national boards of Burger King Corp. is active, plans innovations for the locations in Arizona.
Slim Chickens restaurants also offer veranda dining as community dining is an important part of the brand. To do justice to the Arizona weather, Jacobs encloses the veranda in high-end sliding glass doors that open with mist and fans when the weather is nice and close in summer and are cooled with air conditioning. The interiors have a modern design with parquet floors.
Jacobs also plans to add a third lane in the drive-through, which he refers to as an “escape lane”. For transit customers with a small order, a runner brings their food to the car and they can then quickly exit the transit without queuing. The drive-thru will also have permanent cover on the building that is wide enough to provide shade for six to eight cars with fog and lights. Several employees will work in the drive-through lines to ensure a quick move.
“There are many other fast food restaurants that want to innovate, such as an escape lane, but retrofitting an existing building with another lane is expensive. We’ll be opening Arizona’s Slim Chickens with these improvements from day one, ”says Jacobs. “A three-lane drive through requires a lot of traffic and we are confident that Arizona customers will generate that demand.”
Barnett and Jacobs fit into the shape of Slim Chickens for business partners, the chicken restaurant said.
“We know other Burger King operators and everyone praises Tom and his team. When we heard the story of his Franchisee of the Year Award, we weren’t the least bit surprised. He really is a serving leader, ”said Sam Rothschild, chief operating officer and partner, Slim Chickens Development Company. “At the beginning of this year we went to a Burger King restaurant in Arizona with Tom and a long-time employee greeted him with a hug – it is extremely rare for a restaurant operator with more than 50 locations to know its employees at this level. We continue to be impressed with Tom and Shane’s approach to working with people. It will lead you to great success with Slim Chickens. “
Barnett names three essential qualities of a successful employee: character, capacity and attitude. He identifies talent and then sets it free to blossom. As a result, the average tenure of Burger King executives is 10 years, longer than many others in the industry.
Jacobs started his career at Burger King at the age of 16 in the kitchen. During his 10th year of operation, he became a partner in the company. Barnett calls him an “Industry Master” because his technology expertise was critical to Barnett Management’s information systems and he also works well with people.
In July 2021, Jacobs and other executives traveled to Slim Chickens’ headquarters in Fayetteville, Ark. To work as crew members at a restaurant for a week. They will be returning for six weeks of additional training before opening their first Arizona location. At this point, Slim Chickens headquarters will be flying a crew of longtime employees to assist with the first opening in Arizona a week before and a week after, or until the local team is comfortable with the process.
The news and information contained in this press release has not been endorsed by QSR, Food News Media, or Journalistic, Inc.
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