Raising Cane’s — the Louisiana-based, cult-favorite chicken fingers chain known for its special sauce and Texas-style toast — has entered the New York City market with the grand opening of its 8,000-square-foot global flagship store in Times Square on June 27.
Since originally opening in Baton Rouge in 1996, the company has grown to 740 restaurants in 36 states. Now, Raising Cane’s has plans to become a top 10 quick-service restaurant chain with 100 restaurants alone slated to open in 2023. Over the next couple of years, Raising Canes is opening 25 more locations in the New York City metropolitan area, including Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Long Island, as the company starts to saturate new markets.
“For us, it’s about the maturity of the business,” Raising Cane’s co-CEO Todd Graves told Nation’s Restaurant News about timing their entrance into the New York market. “If you open in Times Square, you have to be ready to take advantage of that…I wanted to do it right: open multiple locations, have great leadership, build up, and get the supply chain going. No looking back.”
The 8,000-square-foot space houses a long ordering counter, a section for selling New York City-specific Raising Cane’s merchandise, a large dining room, and multiple spots for photo opportunities like “Caniac Corner” with Texas Toast-shaped couches, a digital crinkle cut fry screen, a custom mural painted by New York-based artist Timothy Goodman, and a giant plush statue of Raising Cane III—the company’s current yellow lab mascot—dressed as the Statue of Liberty, along with other nods to New York throughout the store. During the holiday season, Graves said they would even add some festive window displays similar to the familiar Macy’s displays.
“There’s something special about this company and its brand recognition domestically and also internationally is a huge part of it,” Graves said. “That’s why we called this our global flagship instead of just our new flagship. This is our idea of coming here to set up a big global flagship, when will people come in for the first time, become ‘Caniacs’ and start requesting local Raising Cane’s where they’re from.”
Contact Joanna Fantozzi at [email protected]
