Springdale will be the site of Slim Chickens’ 70th location
by July 28, 2017 2:57 pm 1,827 views
In response to customer demand, Slim Chickens will build its sixth Northwest Arkansas restaurant in Springdale in the Ozark Center Point Place shopping center at the Highway 412/Interstate 49 intersection.
The existing 7,000-square-foot building that previously housed Jose’s Southwest Grille will be torn down, and a 2,800-square-foot building will be built for the Fayetteville-based chicken restaurant. Mathias Properties of Springdale, which owns the 350,000-square-foot shopping center, will also own the restaurant building, and Slim Chickens will lease it. A lease has been signed.
“I’d like to see it done before the end of the year,” Slim Chickens CEO and co-founder Tom Gordon said. “It’s certainly happening and going forward.”
It will be the 70th Slim Chickens location, and will be a “tweaked version” of the restaurant on Wedington Drive in Fayetteville, Gordon said. It will have seating inside for 102 people and outdoor seating accommodating 30.
In Northwest Arkansas, Springdale was the most requested city in which to add a restaurant, Gordon said. The location was selected based on the continued development in the area, including Arkansas Children’s Northwest and Sam’s Club and the proximity to Arvest Ballpark.
Slim Chickens is looking to expand into Bentonville next. “We’re trying to develop a site there,” Gordon said. “It’s high on the radar for us.”
The company, which was established in 2003, expanded internationally into Kuwait earlier this year, and previously set a goal to reach 600 restaurants in 2025.
Jose’s closed its Springdale location late last year and has since relocated to Tontitown.