It will follow the brand's debut in Ohio next month in Westerville, near Columbus. Those two restaurants kick off a string of Chicken Salad Chick development in the state with additional restaurants slated to open in the Cincinnati market in Anderson and Oakley later this year.
Chicken Salad Chick’s menu features more than a dozen kinds of chicken salads along with pimento cheese or egg salad, served by the scoop, in bread, toast or a croissant. There’s also a selection of side dishes, soups and desserts.
First-time Chicken Salad Chick franchisees Beth and Mike Heydt of Ready to Serve LLC are leading development efforts in Mason.
“It has always been a dream of ours to own a restaurant and we’ve been searching for one that aligns with our personal values and goals,” said Mike Heydt. “The moment we were introduced to Chicken Salad Chick during a family trip, we knew we had the perfect match. The culture of the brand, the high-quality product and the opportunity to serve our community with this one-of-a-kind concept truly excites us.”
He spent the past 30 years with Procter & Gamble working in both manufacturing and human resources, while she served as a teacher for 16 years and as a stay-at-home mother to the couple’s three daughters, who will also be working at the Mason restaurant.
Kendall Grant will serve as general manager, while Courtney Ammon and Kristen Vander Hulst will serve as assistant managers and will lead the restaurant’s catering and marketing efforts.
“Family means everything to us and with our kids now grown and married, we are thrilled that we get to start this new business venture with them,” said Beth Heydt.”When we first visited Chicken Salad Chick, we felt like we were in our second home.”
Chicken Salad Chick started in Alabama in 2008 in the kitchen of Stacy Brown when she discovered that the local county health department would not allow her to continue making and selling her recipes out of her home kitchen.
Brown overcame that obstacle by launching her first restaurant with the business expertise of Kevin Brown, her future husband and fellow founder. The pair opened a small takeout restaurant, which quickly grew and began franchising in 2012.
Kevin Brown died in 2015 after a 2-year battle with cancer.
Eagle Merchant Partners purchased a majority stake in Chicken Salad Chick in 2015. The company has 115 restaurants in 13 states.
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