KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Church's Chicken celebrated the opening of its 1,600th restaurant worldwide on Dec. 20, 2007 in Blue Springs, Mo., a suburb of Kansas City, with top franchisee, Shan Ali of SNSA Inc., who owns a total of 13 Church's restaurants.
The store is a "snap-on" location, sharing space with a Conoco gas station and is the result of a conversion, a development strategy offered to all Church's franchisees. The brand's architecture and design team has the ability to convert several types of pre-existing buildings into a Church's prototype, which allows franchisees to maintain [image-nocss] their current location while saving time and money when developing a Church's restaurant.
Many of Church's target markets are underpenetrated, providing opportunities for significant growth. The company's goal for 2008 is to open 150 restaurants globally.
Shan Ali became a Church's franchisee in 2006 when he purchased seven restaurants in the Kansas City market. He also owns four restaurants in Oakland, Calif., and opened a new restaurant near the University of Kansas in Lawrence late last year.
Shan completely re-imaged and remodeled the initial seven restaurants, which increased his sales by 20%.
"I'm an enthusiastic supporter of all things Church's," Ali said. "As a young Church's franchisee, I look forward to growing with the brand—it is an honor to open the 1,600th store—sales have been very good."
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