Church's Chicken® News Story Roundup for Week Ending on October 12, 2007

By: Church’s Texas Chicken | Texas Chicken | 5 Shares 164 Reads

Largest Franchisee for Church's Chicken® Gives Back in a Big Way

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Falcon Holdings, LLC donated $26,000 to the Muscular Dystrophy Association on behalf of Church's Chicken® at the MDA's annual Jerry Lewis telethon held in early September. The company, owned by Aslam Khan, operates over 100 Church's Chicken restaurants in the Midwest. The staff in each restaurant was charged with the task of selling MDA shamrocks for one dollar apiece. The company also reached out to its vendors for donations.

"We believe in the MDA's simple, noble cause," Khaled Habash, President of Falcon Holdings, LLC, said. "And our employees benefited from being involved in the experience – in one month's time, the effort gained significant momentum – we're looking forward to next year."

Habash said plans have already begun for 2008 fundraising efforts, with the goal of doubling their donation amount to $52,000.

CHURCH'S CHICKEN® FRANCHISE DEVELOPMENT TEAM GROWS

Craig L. Schneider and Marcelino Contreras recently joined the Church's Chicken franchise development team as development directors. With extensive experience in the real estate and quick-service industries, Schneider and Contreras bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise in helping new franchisees find and submit sites for building their Church's restaurants.

Schneider returns to the corporate real estate scene after serving as president over a small real estate and development firm. He spent the bulk of his career with Wendy's; he started as a trainee and eventually became the director of real estate during his 24-year involvement with the company.

Contreras has 39 years of experience in the quick-service industry, and joins Church's after his most recent position as the director of franchise development for El Pollo Loco.

"Church's is in growth mode with expansion in a great number of states where we currently have no presence," Contreras said. "In addition, the chance to work with the highly experienced, impressive group at Church's is a great opportunity for me."

CHURCH'S CHICKEN® HAS HIGHEST EBITDAR RANKING

Church's Chicken® Tower Prototype restaurants have the highest restaurant operating profit out of 37 quick-service concepts studied by Wally Butkus of Restaurant Research, LLC, a company that analyzes industry trends. According to the August 2007 edition of the Restaurant Research Journal, Church's EBITDAR (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and rent) ranking of 27.2 percent topped the list as the best return on investment. Tower Prototypes are newly designed, freestanding restaurants with dine-in and drive-thru service.

"Church's continued emphasis on unit-level economics is reflected in the outstanding performance of our new Tower Prototype," Scott Moffitt, Vice President of Franchise Sales and Management, said. "The smaller size and prime locations of these stores allows for efficiency in delivering our product and is of significant benefit to franchisees because it ties Church's to an important parameter of their success."