Cookeville Herald Citizen:
There’s a new chicken restaurant coming to town. Bojangles‘, known for its famous chicken and biscuits, has announced plans to open between two and three restaurant locations throughout the Cookeville-Putnam County area that will invest initially upwards of $6 million into the local economy, creating more than 180 new jobs.
“Our target date date is as soon as possible, but what’s going on now is our growth in Tennessee is fueled through franchising,” Eric Newman, executive vice president of Bojangles’ said. “We have activity growing in Nashville and a significant presence in east Tennessee, so Cookeville is right in the path of progress for us and our concept does nicely in towns about Cookeville’s size.” A franchisee has not been named, but Newman mentioned that they have several people that are interested.
Since no franchisee has been named yet, locations and a time frame of opening the restaurants are not available yet. “In a new market, we identify a franchisee, agree on an overall development plan and then identify particular real estate locations,” Newman said. “We work hand-in-hand with the franchisee (in) consulting, mapping the area and providing broker assistance and then (go through many other steps) before a final approval.
