
Todd DeLange and Brad DeLange helped Doug Broadright build out his Jimmy John’s franchises before choosing Slim Chickens for their next venture. They liked the Arkansas chain’s food, vibe, and values. | Photo by J. Adrian Wylie
The Southern hospitality of Slim Chickens now extends to Scio Township, where the fast-casual chain recently opened its first stand-alone restaurant in Michigan.
Franchise owners are brothers Brad and Todd DeLange of Lapeer, along with Doug Broadright, who brought Brad in to manage what was then a single Jimmy John’s location fifteen years ago. Soon after, Todd forsook college to join the company’s growth journey.
They now have ten Jimmy John’s and have reached their regional growth capacity with the chain. As they explored other brands, Brad says, they were most impressed by the comfort food, the comfortable vibe, and the corporate vision and values they found with Fayetteville, Arkansas–based Slim Chickens.
“People first,” is how he summarizes it. “Our guests, but also our team—making sure that we value them, we have opportunities for them to grow, advance, better their lives. We’re putting them before profits of the business every time.”
The local launch is the first of up to twenty-five Slim Chickens they aspire to eventually develop in southeast Michigan. They teamed with Kansas-based Plaza Street Partners to develop a 3,240-square-foot restaurant with double drive-thru lanes, a sixty-seat dining room, and a front patio that can accomodate another thirty diners in the warmer months.
A dozen sauces provide flavor variety for the chicken entrées: fried or grilled tenders, wings, sandwiches, or salads. “[Chicken] tender mac and cheese bowls are a dynamite choice this time of year,” Brad suggests.
They also offer waffles and such Southern-style sides as Texas toast, potato salad, and fried mushrooms, okra, or pickles. There’s a range of sweet teas, and dessert choices include take-home Mason jars filled with a rotating list of treats, most recently chocolate brownie pudding and Oreo cheesecake.
Speaking in the red-trimmed dining room as their staff of about eighty assembles for a preopening training session, the brothers say they are counting on customer-friendly service and smooth execution.
“When it’s running well, it’s awesome to watch,” says Brad, who switched to hospitality when the real estate industry dried up with the Great Recession. “If you get a little kink in the chain, you notice it, but every person has their value that they bring inside that team.”
Todd focuses more on store operations. Tailoring workers’ strengths to the various tasks at hand, he says, is “like a puzzle, and it’s so fun to put it together.”
Slim Chickens, 5505 Arbor Chase. (734) 418–7177. Daily 10 a.m.–10 p.m., drive-thru until 11 p.m. slimchickens.com
“I didn’t know people from Ann Arbor like chicken this much!” exclaims Daniel Choi, who’s moving his family here from Chicago for his new career as a bb.q Chicken franchisee. The South Korean eatery—one of over 3,500 in fifty-seven countries—opened near Westgate on November 22 in the building behind Lewis Jewelers that also hosts MilkShake Factory (Marketplace Changes, September) and Tous les Jours (January 2024).
“We actually didn’t do any advertising,” Choi says. Yet he and partner Ryan Lee had to shut down early some days after selling 500 pounds or so of freshly prepared chicken.
Born in Korea, Choi came to the U.S. for grad school and ended up in sales in the hair products industry. Lee, a client who lives in the area, suggested they go into business together in the growing Korean-chicken segment. Theirs is the second bb.q Chicken in Michigan, after one in Troy.
As newcomers to food service, the franchise route made sense: the parent company provides specific guidance and support for everything from store design and equipment purchases to daily operations. “Four people were here [for] three weeks, and they all trained our employees,” Choi notes.
A dozen varieties of wings and boneless chicken entrées are steady sellers, but he’s been surprised by the local popularity of whole fried chickens. About three-quarters of customers choose takeout, though they have nine tables and five counter seats. The chicken, cooked fresh to order, takes about twenty-five minutes to be ready to serve.
bb.q Chicken, 322 S. Maple. (734) 369–3561. Wed.–Mon. 11 a.m.–3:30 p.m., 4:30–9 p.m. Closed Tues. bbqchicken.com
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