Zaxby's
Zaxby's | |
Company type | Private |
Industry | Restaurants |
Genre | Fast casual |
Founded | August 1990 |
Founders | Zach McLeroy Tony Townley |
Headquarters | Athens, Georgia, U.S. |
Number of locations | 941 (2022) |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Bernard Acoca (CEO) Zach McLeroy (Chairman, Former CEO, Co-Founder) Tony Townley (Former Chief Strategy Officer, Co-Founder) David Waters (Former Chief Operating Officer) Blake Bailey (Former Chief Financial Officer) Joel Bulger (Former Chief Marketing Officer) |
Products | Chicken wings, french fries, Texas toast, chicken fingers |
Website | www |
Zaxby’s SPE Franchisor LLC, doing business as Zaxby's, is an American chain of fast casual restaurants offering chicken wings, chicken fingers, sandwiches, and salads. The chain operates primarily in the Southern United States and has more than 900 locations. Most Zaxby's restaurants are owned by franchisees, but 123 locations are owned by Zaxby company.[1]
History and locations
Zaxby's chicken and Zax Sauce is based on another smaller chicken finger chain called Guthrie's that existed in Athens, Georgia, while Zach McLeroy attended the University of Georgia. The first Zaxby's was established in Statesboro, Georgia, in March 1990, near the Georgia Southern University campus, by childhood friends Zach McLeroy and Tony Townley.[2] The company's first restaurant outside of Georgia was opened in September 1994 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. In 2013, they opened locations in Utah, the first expansion outside of the southeastern United States.[3]
As of 2023, Zaxby's has locations in 19 U.S. states.[4][5] In December 2019, the Oklahoma-based Zaxby's franchisee announced it would be shuttering five of its nine locations across the state.[6] Like other restaurants, since mid-March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused Zaxby's dine-in lobbies to shut down indefinitely.[7][8] Some locations had reopened by mid-May 2020.[9]
In 2022, Zaxby's introduced a new CEO, Bernard Acoca; he was the first CEO that was not one of the co-founders.[10] Outgoing CEO Zach McLeroy stayed on as Chairman.[11]
Menu and themes
The company operates as a fast casual dining restaurant, offering prepared-at-order chicken fingers, chicken wings, sandwiches, salads, and appetizers.[12] Dipping sauces are offered with chicken finger orders, and range from mild, to the moderate "Zax sauce", to the intensely hot "Nuclear". Dining rooms at Zaxby's restaurants are decorated with assorted whimsical objects and signs, which often vary in theme by location and region. Some locations in college towns feature objects and decorations related to the local university. Similarly, citrus-industry themed decorations line the walls at a location in Orlando, Florida.
Since the December 2013 announcement that Zaxby's would begin to offer the Coca-Cola Freestyle machine at their locations, the decor in the fountain drink dispensing area has been dominated by that distinctive dispenser and other Coca-Cola branding.[13][14]
Advertising
In late 2007, the chain began running a series of commercials featuring celebrities eating Zaxby's menu items. The celebrities of 2007–2008 included
In October 2008, the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles featured Zaxby's as a restaurant on the streets of Los Angeles. California, however, has none in reality.[16]
Sponsorships
Zaxby's is "The Official Chicken of Sports Fanz" and has collective intellectual property rights at nearly 30
Zaxby's was also the sponsor of the
Zaxby's was a sponsor for
In honor of the children the restaurant chain serves every year, Zaxby's is a supporter of
See also
References
- ^ "Spotlight on Zaxby's" (PDF). greysteel.com. Greysteel. October 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
Zaxby's primarily operates a franchise model with 123 corporate-operated locations.
- ^ Healy, Jim (November 30, 2020). "Business Focus - Zaxby's expansion plans". Statesboro Herald. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Hayley (August 5, 2015). "A billion-dollar fast-food chain no one ever talks about is taking over America". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ "Zaxby's Locations". Retrieved December 4, 2019.
- ^ "Net Lease Zaxby's Property Profile and Cap Rates - The Boulder Group". The Boulder Group. 2017-02-25. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
- ^ "Stillwater Zaxby's among five in franchise to close | Stillwater News Press". www.stwnewspress.com. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
- ^ "Zaxby's Limits Service to Drive-Thru Only". QSR. March 17, 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ Higginbottom, Andrew (17 March 2020). "Zaxby's moving to drive-thru-only due to Coronavirus concerns". WKRG News 5. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
- ^ "Respect, trust and partnership drive Zaxby's success during COVID-19". www.franchise.org. May 20, 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ Lalley, Heather (2021-10-26). "Zaxby's hires Bernard Acoca as CEO". Restaurant Business. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
- ^ Ewen, Beth (November 2021). "Out as CEO, Zaxby's Founder Reflects on 30 Years of Growth". franchisetimes.com. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
- ^ "Zappetizers". Zaxby's Franchising LLC. 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- ^ "The Extra Mile for Freestyle". Here Comes the Shrink. September 11, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- ^ "Zaxby's Saturday & Today | My Clinton News". www.clintonchronicle.com. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
- ^ "Watch "Escape - Zaxby's" Video at Nation's Restaurant News". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
- ^ "Zaxby's Ads Featured In Video Game". The Franchise Mall. October 15, 2008. Archived from the original on May 3, 2010. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- ^ "IMG College - Zaxby's Scores Big With Major College Sports Sponsorship". www.imgcollege.com. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
- ^ "Army defeats North Texas in overtime at Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl: Score, stats, recap". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
- ^ "Playing Chicken: Georgia-Based Zaxby's Signs Sponsorship Deal With 25 Colleges". www.sportsbusinessdaily.com. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
- ^ "John Wes Townley Joins Red Horse Racing". Speedway Media. December 18, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
- ^ tamara (2013-12-02). "Zaxby's Teams Up with Make-A-Wish for Third Year". QSR magazine. Retrieved 2017-03-23.