Chicken Salad Chick (SSRG Holdings, LLC)

What does Chicken Salad Chick own?

The company owns the Chicken Salad Chick restaurant brand and franchise system, covering more than 300 locations in about 20 states. It also owns Piece of Cake, an Atlanta bakery supplier acquired in October 2023.

Is Chicken Salad Chick publicly traded?

No. The company is privately held, with Brentwood Associates holding the majority stake since 2019. There are no public shares and no announced IPO plans.

Who founded Chicken Salad Chick?

Stacy and Kevin Brown founded the restaurant in Auburn, Alabama in 2008. Stacy developed the chicken salad recipes, and Kevin drove early business development and franchising.

Where is Chicken Salad Chick headquartered?

The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, though it was founded in Auburn, Alabama and keeps its original restaurant there.

Who owns Chicken Salad Chick?

Brentwood Associates, a Los Angeles consumer private equity firm, owns the majority interest through SSRG Holdings, LLC. CEO Scott Deviney runs the company and holds a reported ownership stake.

How many restaurants does the company operate?

The system passed 300 restaurants in 2025 and was tracking toward roughly 330 by year end, with about three quarters franchised and the rest company operated.

The business began in 2008 in Auburn, Alabama. Stacy Brown, recently divorced and raising three children, was selling homemade chicken salad out of her kitchen when local health authorities shut the informal operation down. She and her husband Kevin converted the demand she had already proven into a small takeout restaurant, which opened in January 2008 near the Auburn University campus.

Customers lined up quickly. Kevin Brown, a career salesman, saw franchising as the growth path, and the first franchised Chicken Salad Chick opened in 2012. By 2014 the system had a few dozen units, mostly in Alabama and neighboring states, but the founders lacked the capital and infrastructure to scale faster.

In 2015, the Browns sold the company to Atlanta private equity firm Eagle Merchant Partners and restaurant executive Scott Deviney. Deviney installed a professional management team, moved headquarters functions to Atlanta, formalized franchise training, and tightened real estate criteria. System sales were roughly $12 million when he arrived.

Eagle Merchant Partners sold its majority interest to Brentwood Associates in November 2019. Brentwood's capital accelerated development: the chain passed 200 locations in the early 2020s, added drive-thru formats, and expanded beyond the Southeast. In 2023 the company bought Piece of Cake, its longtime dessert supplier. The 2024 development year set records with nearly 40 openings and 88 signed franchise agreements, and the footprint topped 300 restaurants in 2025 across about 20 states.

The brand has appeared repeatedly on industry growth lists. Nation's Restaurant News placed it on its Next 15 emerging chains list in 2019, and QSR Magazine recognized it as a Best Franchise Deal. Entrepreneur magazine has included it in its Top Food Franchises rankings, and Franchise Times has featured it in its Fast & Serious list of smart-growing brands. CEO Scott Deviney was profiled in Franchise Times' Top CEOs in Franchising feature in late 2025.

The company has no significant regulatory record. Founder Stacy Brown's departure of day-to-day involvement after the 2015 sale generated local media interest in Alabama, and she has described mixed feelings about the sale in interviews, but there was no legal dispute. Occasional lawsuits between franchisors and franchisees are routine in the industry; no material franchising litigation has been reported as of late 2026.