The Franchise Move
Big Chicken opened its Beverly, Massachusetts location on August 22, 2026 — the brand's second permanent footprint in the state and the latest step in a deliberate market-entry sequence by local franchise group JBMM Hospitality. For operators tracking how celebrity-backed fast-casual concepts scale regionally, the playbook here is more instructive than the headline name.
JBMM — led by Barry Lattuca, James O'Hanlon, Michael Scibelli, and Martin LaChance — did not open cold. The group introduced Big Chicken to Massachusetts in 2025 through a branded pop-up called the "Dunk Truck" at Wrentham Premium Outlets, a high-traffic retail destination that functioned as a low-risk demand-validation exercise. Strong community response triggered a permanent Wrentham storefront in January 2026. Beverly followed seven months later. That sequencing — pop-up, outlet conversion, community storefront — gives franchisees real transaction data before committing to full build-out costs, a model increasingly relevant as construction and labor costs pressure new-unit economics across foodservice.
Brand Mechanics at Launch
The Beverly grand opening leaned on a jersey-number mechanic — the first 36 guests in line receive free sandwiches for a year, tied to Shaquille O'Neal's No. 36 worn during his time with the Boston Celtics — to drive early-line formation and app sign-ups simultaneously. Guests who enrolled in the Big Chicken Rewards program were also entered for signed memorabilia. Structurally, this is a first-party data acquisition tactic embedded inside a launch event: the reward is gated behind app enrollment, converting foot traffic into a CRM asset from day one. Operators running their own location launches should note the mechanics — the "free for a year" offer is capped at $10.00 per week and redeemable every seven days, keeping redemption costs predictable.
The brand also timed a limited-time menu drop to the Beverly opening: a "Big Dip Energy" rotating sauce program launching a Root Beer BBQ dip. Monthly LTO drops of this kind serve dual purposes — they give local franchisees a reason to push owned-channel communications and give the brand a content cadence that sustains earned media between major announcements. For operators building loyalty and LTO strategy, that rhythm is increasingly a baseline expectation, not a differentiator.
What Operators Should Watch
With more than 40 locations open and additional units in development across North America, Big Chicken sits in a growth corridor that includes arenas, airports, cruise ships, and traditional storefronts — a multi-channel distribution model that reduces dependence on any single real estate format. CEO Gregg Majewski, in comments tied to the Beverly opening, pointed to community fit and local operator quality as primary site-selection filters, which tracks with how the brand has structured its franchise relationships: JBMM brought market knowledge; Big Chicken provided the system.
For regional franchise groups evaluating emerging fast-casual brands, the JBMM trajectory illustrates a low-friction entry path — pop-up validation, outlet location, then community unit — that limits early capital exposure while building brand familiarity in the target market. It also signals that brands with strong celebrity identity and an existing loyalty infrastructure can support franchisee-led market development without requiring the franchisee to generate awareness from scratch. Brand launch teams and franchise development operators should benchmark this sequencing against their own market-entry timelines.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
