Layne’s Chicken Fingers to Come to Central Arkansas

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It looks like Arkansas will be getting another chicken chain.

Jake Willett of Texarkana, Texas, has signed a development deal with Layne’s Chicken Fingers, founded 30 years ago in College Station, Texas, to bring 10 restaurants to Arkansas within the next five years or so. Willett is hoping to open his first Layne’s, somewhere in central Arkansas, by the end of this year. He didn’t want to be more specific about the location because the property was not yet under contract, though he expected to have that done in the next couple of weeks.

Willett, who developed and sold a landscaping business in Denver, plans to move to Little Rock by the end of the year, he told Whispers.

Willett’s goal is to start out in central Arkansas and then move northward, opening a Layne’s every couple of years or so.

The menu at Layne’s, unsurprisingly, focuses on chicken fingers, but it also offers chicken sandwiches and grilled cheese sandwiches. The restaurants are usually about 2,300 SF and seat between 30 and 40, with a focus on drive-through service.

Layne’s has 13 restaurants in Texas and locations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia with plans to open in Arizona, Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C., according to its website.

Layne’s is just the latest chicken-centric chain to set its sights on the state. Dave’s Hot Chicken, based in Los Angeles, recently entered into an agreement with Morgan Food Groups to bring that franchise to Arkansas.

And, of course, a number of other chicken chains already have locations in Arkansas, among them Slim Chickens, based in Fayetteville, Chick-fil-A, Waldo’s Chicken & Beer, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, Zaxby’s and some we have no doubt overlooked.

Chicken is a hot segment of the restaurant industry, with the market size of the fast-food chicken restaurant industry in the U.S. growing 8.1% per year on average between 2018 and 2023, according to market research firm IBISWorld. Revenue for the industry was $59.4 billion last year, IBISWorld said.