Tuesday, September 17, 2024

[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.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Finally with 15 min of the perimeter! They’re seriously taking SLOW baby steps toward the city and I’m just ready…

Anonymous said...

I am excited to see new Raising Canes locations opening. My favorite chicken tenders are Guthries. I’d love to see a new location open in the Brookhaven or Chamblee area.

Anonymous said...

Come to Buckhead you crazy bastards !!

Anonymous said...

OMG! This has got to be the most overrated chicken! It's good BUT not crazy good! No way will I ever want in a long line again for this chicken. I miss AndThat! ... That was a great store. RIP AndThat!

Ham said...

Ok, never eaten there, so maybe I need to check it out, but it's just chicken strips. As for staying mostly OTP I suspect it has to do with the availability and quality of labor.

Anonymous said...

Put it where the old Shoney’s on Piedmont is sitting and rotting, closed 25 years now.

Anonymous said...

“Availability and quality of labor”…..what does that mean? Are you saying that unemployment is zero ITP so there simply are no employees available? Or are you saying something else? Don’t be shy.

Michael said...

I hadn't eaten at a Raising Cane's for probably 10 years ago when I was in Texas. I remember thinking at the time that it was nearly identical to Zaxby's, but in a state that didn't have Zaxby's. Fast forward to last weekend and my son and I are just a few minutes away from the Woodstock Raising Cane's. My son is stoked, but I tell him that from what I remember, it's basically the same thing as Zaxby's, chicken strips and crinkle fries. We pull up and the drive thru line is enormous and the inside is packed, people are parked on the grass in a lot behind it. I start doubting myself, wait in the line for 15 - 20 minutes and order. I realize now that their menu is more limited than Zaxby's. As we head home, my son starts eating, turns to me and says "you're right, it's just like Zaxbys".

I really don't get it. My wife said they do a bunch of advertising on social media to hype it up. On the way home we pass a Zaxby's a few minutes away and it's nearly empty, then pass another one by my house, same.

I realize I said Zaxby's a bunch in this comment, I'm in no way promoting them, I probably haven't gone to a Zaxby's in a few years.

Anonymous said...

I don't get the hype. Anything you can get at Cane's you can get a one of 1000 Zaxby's locations in Atlanta.

Anonymous said...

Except Zaxby’s are dirty and have slippery floors and filthy restrooms and no more Freestyle machines.

Anonymous said...

Totally agree… it’s no better than Zaxby’s.

Anonymous said...

Come on Raising Cane, Dunwoody is good but ATL would be great, Old Shoney’s location on Piedmont would be great!

Anonymous said...

Cartersville, acworth, dallas

Anonymous said...

I agree with you 100 percent.

Anonymous said...

Douglasville

Anonymous said...

While that is true, Zaxbys is pretty bad. Their fingers are often dry and overcooked and seem old, and the bread is never fresh. They used to be pretty good years ago but I noticed a change when they started expanding so much. Canes has always been good and fresh when I’ve been there. I just hope they don’t falter with all their expansion like Zaxbys did.

Anonymous said...

Acworth- there is an empty O’Charleys next to Chick fil a would love to see a Raising Canes there

Dk Blog said...

Its gonna be sad to see the And that! building go but i'll be glad to have a Canes that isn't all the way up on 92.

Anonymous said...

I am sorry to say that I won't be returning to Chic film A.The chicken does not taste the same and the bun is so thin it seems to melt away.Since I was a child it was always a special treat to go there.
It makes me sad that they had to change it.I for sure will be giving them some business


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