Under the Churchs Chicken Exclusive Development Agreement, are there any locations excluded from the exclusive development area?
Churchs_Chicken Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
If you sign an Exclusive Development Agreement, you will be granted a geographic area within which we will not open a Restaurant, nor license anyone other than you to open a Restaurant, subject to the other terms of the Agreement. The exclusive development area does not include airports, train stations, bus stations, travel plazas, stadiums, arenas, convention centers, military facilities, schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, recreational theme parks, business or industrial foodservice venues, food courts, enclosed shopping malls and retail centers, venues in which foodservice is or may be provided by a master concessionaire or contract foodservice provider, Indian reservations, casinos or any similar captive market location, even if these locations are located in the Development Area.
Source: Item 12 — TERRITORY (FDD pages 43–45)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Churchs Chicken's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, if a franchisee signs an Exclusive Development Agreement, the exclusive development area does not include certain locations, even if those locations fall within the Development Area. These excluded locations are airports, train stations, bus stations, travel plazas, stadiums, arenas, convention centers, military facilities, schools, colleges, universities, and hospitals. The exclusion also extends to recreational theme parks, business or industrial foodservice venues, food courts, enclosed shopping malls and retail centers, and venues where foodservice is or may be provided by a master concessionaire or contract foodservice provider. Finally, Indian reservations, casinos, and similar captive market locations are also excluded from the exclusive development area.
This means that even with an Exclusive Development Agreement, Churchs Chicken retains the right to open or license others to open restaurants in these specific types of locations within the franchisee's development area. A prospective franchisee should carefully consider the prevalence of these excluded locations within their potential development area, as these represent potential lost opportunities for establishing Churchs Chicken restaurants.
This type of exclusion is relatively common in franchise agreements, particularly for food service brands. Franchisors often want to maintain control over high-traffic, specialized venues like airports or universities, either to operate corporate stores or to partner with specific concessionaires who have expertise in those channels. Franchisees should inquire about the franchisor's strategy for these non-traditional locations and how it might impact their overall development plans.