Columbus' Hot Chicken Takeover fast-casual restaurant has been purchased by a multi-brand holding company for the second time in the last decade.
The once-local fried chicken chain with seven central Ohio locations was sold, along with its parent company Untamed Brands, to Craveworthy Brands from Illinois. The company is owned by former Jimmy John's CEO Gregg Majewski and already has a footprint in Columbus on the Ohio State University campus with stir-fried bowls restaurant Genghis Grill.
Craveworthy Brands announced the purchase last week on Nation's Restaurant News and signaled new branding is on the way for Hot Chicken Takeover. The company already owns a fried chicken chain in Chicago called The Budlong Southern Chicken.
The company said Hot Chicken Takeover will “feature new branding, refreshed restaurant designs and further emphasize the guest dining experience in the coming future.” The purchase also includes Taim, a Mediterranean fast casual chain restaurant.
“Taim and Hot Chicken Takeover are beloved concepts with long histories of serving high-quality cuisine and providing excellent service,” Majewski said. “They bring a fresh perspective and complement our existing portfolio extremely well, which allows us to cater to diverse consumer preferences and truly tap into new markets.”
Ohio State University senior lecturer and restaurant marketing expert Brian Hipsher told WOSU the company is likely signaling its two fried chicken brands will merge in some way. He previously worked for GOSH Enterprises, which owns Charley's Philly Steaks and BIBIBOP Asian Grill.
"They're probably looking at actually combining brands. And (maybe) that means that the Hot Chicken Takeover locations turn into Budlong Southern Chicken. Maybe it even loses its identity," Hipsher said.
Hipsher said a rebrand of the company could leave both names in place or Craveworthy Brands even choose the Hot Chicken Takeover name instead. He said it could even just mean both chains get a branding refresh.
Hipsher pointed to Craveworthy Brands' website that says Budlong Southern Chicken is "[p]rimed for significant growth—updates coming soon."
"It would make sense for them to do that if their thought processes were going to develop a national brand. We're going to take this Budlong Southern Chicken to more places, which it looks like on the Budlong website that their plan is to expand nationally," Hipsher said.
Hipsher said holding companies like Craveworthy Brands and Untamed Brands in the restaurant space are able to share supply chain and marketing expertise as well as technology and trainings across brands.
But he pointed out some negatives of this purchase that could affect Columbus customers.
"It can be a sad thing, too, when you see your favorite local place kind of starting to get a little bit big. And sometimes that impacts guests perception as well," Hipsher said.
Hot Chicken Takeover was founded in 2014 when founder Joe DeLoss opened its first location in Olde Towne East. The company hired previously incarcerated or unhoused people with benefits to help them out.
Hipsher said the sale to another national company could hurt people's perception of the company and its local roots.
Hipsher said it is too soon to tell if this purchase impacts the "fried chicken wars" with fast food restaurants competing to make the best fried chicken.
"Maybe 10 years ago, everyone was trying to figure out 'how is Chick-Fil-A doing it?' or 'How do we get into this chicken business?'... but, you know, we'll see how that evolves and changes into the future here," Hipsher said.
