(Bloomberg) -- The investors behind Blaze Pizza are pivoting to fried chicken.
A group including Maria Shriver, Boston Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner, actor Samuel L. Jackson and TV personality Michael Strahan are promoting Dave's Hot Chicken in Los Angeles, and they're betting it can be taken national quickly with franchising. That follows the blueprint set by Blaze, which counts LeBron James as an investor. The new chain started as a pop-up location in a parking lot in 2017.
The timing may be opportune: Chicken is having a moment across the U.S. Popeyes recently ran out of a new fried-chicken sandwich, and McDonald's Corp. has jumped on board with a new spicy barbecue chicken sandwich. Bill Phelps, chief executive officer of Dave's Hot Chicken, says the plan is to have 500 locations in the next six to seven years, much like Blaze, which now has 312 restaurants in the U.S. and 29 abroad.
“We see it not as a fad, but as a real solid trend,” Phelps said of fried chicken, which is certified halal at Dave's. He said that most customers order a combo meal of sliders or tenders, along with a side, for $10 to $12.
Phelps, one of the original Blaze investors, added that the pizza chain still plans on going public in the next two years.
For Dave's, the plan is to use high-profile investors like Jackson and Strahan to tout the chain through Twitter and Instagram, Phelps said. The brand has more than 90,000 Instagram followers touting its beer, crinkle-cut fries and spicy tenders.
“It's the way brands are growing today,” he said. “You don't need television.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Leslie Patton in Chicago at lpatton5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anne Riley Moffat at ariley17@bloomberg.net, Jonathan Roeder, Lisa Wolfson
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