After primarily operating in the southeastern United States for its first few decades of operation, fast-food chain Zaxbys will soon open its first locations in Arizona, with plans to expand north from the Valley as well.
Breaking ground on its first location in the state at Vineyard Town Center in Queen Creek back in January with plans to open in July, the Georgia-based fast-food chain known for its chicken tenders and 12 sauces expects to reach 1,000 locations by the end of 2025. With at least 10 of those planned throughout the Valley, Bert Lane, vice president of franchise sales for Zaxbys, has expressed that Flagstaff is targeted as well, given its location between the east and west coasts of the U.S.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a beautiful part of Arizona, especially when you鈥檙e traveling through I-40 going west,鈥� Lane said. 鈥淲e target it because, one, the traveler going through there that knows our brand from the east coast going west, or maybe going west coast to east coast, and 鈥極h, I鈥檝e never visited Zaxbys, let鈥檚 give it an opportunity to try it.鈥� Two, we also love it from the college aspect. We do well with a young audience that鈥檚 going to school.鈥�
Founded in Georgia in 1990, Zaxbys debuted in Utah in 2013 and recently opened its first location in Las Vegas as the chain has looked to expand its presence in states west of its primary footprint of the Southeast, such as Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Oklahoma.
Zaxbys had two franchisee groups planning to open locations throughout the state, one focused on the southeastern part of the Valley in Gilbert, Chandler and San Tan, along with Queen Creek and the other in the west Valley, with hopes to open in the Algodon Center near the intersection of Interstate 10 and Loop 101 by the end of the year.
Lane explained the process to identify those franchisee groups includes multiple rounds of an interview process with himself, the company鈥檚 development sales team and the executive team in order to ensure each candidate is the 鈥渞ight candidate for the brand.鈥�
鈥淲e look for candidates who have tremendous restaurant experience and they live in the market and are going to be engaged in the community. Those folks with restaurant experience that are well capitalized and have tremendous passion for the brand are really our ideal candidates,鈥� Lane said, adding that franchisee candidates would ideally want to come into a market and open three or more locations.
However, for a more isolated location such as Flagstaff, which might support one or two restaurants, the process for a franchisee could look slightly different and would come in one of two ways, according to Lane.
鈥淪ometimes you get that unique local that鈥檚 there running another quick-service restaurant brand such as a Sonic, an Arby鈥檚 -- fill in the white space there with whatever brand you want -- and they say, 鈥業 can鈥檛 build any more of said brand. I would love to have chicken in my portfolio,' and they鈥檙e a local to the community,鈥� Lane explained as the first option.
The second would be one of the franchise groups in the Valley building out their planned markets and then looking to expand either north or south.
鈥淎s long as they show that they have the right operations team in place to support the Zaxbys brand properly in the [satellite] market,鈥� Lane said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where it鈥檚 key to have that local presence, that local knowledge.鈥�
In addition to its staple products -- which include meals consisting of chicken fingers, Zaxbys鈥� signature Zax Sauce or one of the 11 others on the menu, Texas toast, coleslaw and crinkle fries -- the chain also offers salads branded as Zalads, wings, chicken sandwiches, egg rolls, fried white cheddar bites and fried pickles.
Most recently, Zaxbys added chicken quesadillas to its menu for a limited time.
鈥淲hen you come to Zaxbys, it鈥檚 more than just chicken fingers,鈥� Lane said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a unique offering of a phenomenal menu that we鈥檝e produced over the years.鈥�