[EXCLUSIVE] Raising Cane's Continues Atlanta Expansion With New Location Bound For Barrett Parkway

ToNeTo Atlanta continues to be your number one source for updates on the Atlanta market entry of Raising Cane's and we are pleased to report that another Raising Cane's is in the works!  A new Raising Cane's is planned for Kennesaw where it would replace a former retail store.     

The new Raising Cane's is planned for 845 Ernest Barrett Parkway where it will reportedly be one of three new businesses to open on land previously home to AndThat!  The retailer, previously known as Christmas Tree Shops, was until 2020 owned by Bed Bath & Beyond, but like its former parent company, it filed for bankruptcy in May 2023 and closed all of its stores in August 2023.  The Kennesaw building had before AndThat! operated as an Office Depot store.   

The property's size, just over 3 acres, is allowing for the development of three businesses.  Sources close to the project tell ToNeTo Atlanta that Raising Cane's will be joined by a new branch of Fifth Third Bank, as well as another bank, potentially Bank of America or TD Bank. 

Planning documents reviewed by ToNeTo Atlanta suggest that the Raising Cane's parcel will be the largest, measuring 1.4 acres.    

The new Kennesaw Raising Cane's would position the chicken chain a little more than a stone's throw from the existing Chick-fil-A at 830 Barrett Parkway.  (The Kennesaw Chick-fil-A was demolished and rebuilt from the ground up in 2021.)  

Raising Cane's expanded from Athens to include a new unit in Dacula last March.  They later debuted their heavily delayed unit on Buford Drive near the Mall of Georgia this past August, followed by a restaurant on Highway 92 in Woodstock this past February.  A new location on Scenic Highway in Snellville is slated to open October 8.  

Other upcoming locations include those planned for Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth where the chain is replacing a former Steak 'n Shake, and on Jonesboro Road in McDonough where Raising Cane's is replacing a former O'Charley's.  The chicken chain is also in talks to open a new restaurant at 4570 Ashford Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody where it would replace a former Wells Fargo bank.     

The Snellville location marks the third of four planned Raising Cane's in Gwinnett County, while the proposed Dunwoody restaurant and upcoming Kennesaw restaurants would be the first in DeKalb and Cobb Counties, respectively.     

For those unfamiliar - aka non "Caniacs" - of which there don't seem to be many, Raising Cane's features a very simple menu with a focus on fried chicken tenders.  Menu offerings also include a fried chicken sandwich, crinkle-cut fries, Texas Toast, and coleslaw, an item famously eliminated from the menu at rival Chick-fil-A in early 2016.          

ToNeTo Atlanta is tracking several additional Raising Cane's restaurants including two ITP locations.  University of Georgia graduate Todd Graves, along with his business partner Craig Silvey, opened the first Raising Cane's in Baton Rouge near the LSU campus in 1996.  Graves, who worked for Guthrie's (which proudly claims to be "America's Original Chicken Finger Restaurant") while in school in Athens, would later return to the Classic City in 2006 when he opened a new Raising Cane's on land that had been home to Guthrie's from 1984 until its closure in 2004.       

Ranked by Average Unit Volume (AUV), Raising Cane's is typically second, just behind Chick-fil-A.  In 2023, the company surpassed 700 Raising Cane's restaurants across 37 states.  

In 2022, the company said it planned to open at least ten locations in Georgia in the coming years.          

Are you excited about the opening of Raising Cane's in metro Atlanta?  Who do you think makes the best chicken tenders?  Where else in metro Atlanta would you like to see Raising Cane's open? 

Please share your thoughts below.