Dive Brief:

• Bojangles has sold development rights for 20 new restaurants in the Phoenix market to LVP Restaurant Group, a subsidiary of LV Petroleum, as part of its Western expansion plans, Bojangles announced Thursday.
• The brand and the operator previously signed an agreement which gave LVP responsibility for building 20 Bojangles units in the Las Vegas market, alongside 10 nontraditional Bojangles units in travel centers.
• Bojangles said the deal validates its expansion strategy outside its Southeastern base. To implement that strategy, the chain has introduced “a streamlined boneless chicken menu, new building design and new staffing model across new and existing markets,” according to the press release.

Dive Insight:

Bojangles plans to reach over 1,000 stores by building out its current, sizable development pipeline. The LVP plan would bring Bojangles into Arizona for the first time — according to the restaurant’s website, it does not currently have any stores in the region.

"All 20-units from this Phoenix development deal will be traditional Bojangles restaurant locations," Jim Cannon, chief development officer of Bojangles, said in a statement emailed to Restaurant Dive.

The company said its attempts to expand into new markets have met success, and that consumers have responded well to its growth.

“With the consumer demand for chicken at an all-time high, there has never been a better time to be in the segment, and our new boneless platform has resonated strongly in each new market we enter,” Jim Cannon, chief development officer of Bojangles, said in a statement.

Bojangles and LVP has collaborated together in the past, with their first deal bringing the chicken chain to a number of Travel Centers of America locations. LVP said its development will be led by Jeanette Davis, LVP’s vice president of food and franchise brands. LVP will work with Kingsbarn Realty Capital, which will serve as its real estate developer.