Kentucky fried spin-off! KFC parent company days off launching new Shake Shack-style chain promising 'the last true chicken sandwich'

  • Super Chix will open its first store in Arlington, Texas, on Friday
  • The simple menu is centered around a southern-style chicken sandwich featuring pickles, onions and jalapenos
  • It's the latest chain to be introduced by Yum! Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell
  • Yum! say the store is 'exploratory' and they hope to expand Super Chix internationally, not within America
  • The concept seems a concerted move to rival Chik-A-Fil, now the No.1 U.S. chicken chain

By Ap Reporter

As KFC continues to struggle in the U.S. - with a sales drop of 5 per cent last year - parent company Yum! Brands is testing a new chicken restaurant called Super Chix, a Shake Shack-style burger and wings concept that they hope to take international.

The first store is set to open Friday in Arlington, Texas, featuring a menu positioned as a more premium offering than KFC, keeping in line with the trend toward foods people feel are higher in quality.

According to its website, Super Chix is centered on a signature southern-style chicken sandwich, along with chicken tenders, fries and frozen custard.

The sandwich comes with lettuce, tomato, jalapeños, a choice of hot, sweet or kosher pickles and haystack Onions.

Customers then choose either the signature mayaonaise-style sauce, honey mustard, smoky honey pepper or Sriracha sweet and sour.

New chick on the block: A concept store called Super Chix will open in Arlington, Texas, this week as a test by KFC parent company Yum! Brands. The menu is centered around the 'Last True Chicken Sandwich' (pictured)


. According to Ad Age, the restaurant is being tested by Yum! Brands, and features a limited menu of chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, French fries, beverages and frozen custard.

New chick on the block: A concept store called Super Chix will open in Arlington, Texas, this week as a test by KFC parent company Yum! Brands. The menu is centered around the 'Last True Chicken Sandwich' (pictured) . According to Ad Age, the restaurant is being tested by Yum! Brands, and features a limited menu of chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, French fries, beverages and frozen custard.

The Super Chix menu is positioned as a more premium offering than KFC, in line with the trend toward foods people feel are higher in quality

The Super Chix menu is positioned as a more premium offering than KFC, in line with the trend toward foods people feel are higher in quality

Sweet: Seemingly taking inspiration from beloved burger franchise Shake Shack, Super Chix offers frozen custard for dessert, in flavors of vanilla, strawberry, chocolate and 'flavor of the day', with the option to mix in Oreos, Heath Bars, M&Ms, Graham Crackers or strawberries

Sweet: Seemingly taking inspiration from beloved burger franchise Shake Shack, Super Chix offers frozen custard for dessert, in flavors of vanilla, strawberry, chocolate and 'flavor of the day', with the option to mix in Oreos, Heath Bars, M&Ms;, Graham Crackers or strawberries

The fires are hand-cut Idaho potatoes

The fires are hand-cut Idaho potatoes

'Our chicken is marinated daily in our kitchen, then hand-breaded and cooked in 100% refined peanut oil. No MSG, HFCS or phosphates,' the Super Chix website says.

It refers to its trademark sandwich as 'The Last True Chicken Sandwich'.

Virginia Ferguson, a spokeswoman for Yum, downplayed the suggestion that the restaurant was being tested for the U.S. market.

 

'This is an exploratory concept that may in the future be considered for international purposes,' Ferguson said in an email.

There are no current plans to explain within the U.S.

She added that the company will be exploring other concepts for 'international purposes' in the near future, such as a 'Banh Shop' that sells Asian subs.

The test comes after KFC ceded its position as the No. 1 chicken chain to Chick-fil-A in 2012 in terms of sales volume, according to food industry researcher Technomic.

Dropping: Chick-fil-A has surpassed KFC as the largest U.S.-based chicken chain

Dropping: Chick-fil-A has surpassed KFC as the largest U.S.-based chicken chain

In 2013, KFC posted sales of $4.22 billion, equating to a drop of 5 per cent

In 2013, KFC posted sales of $4.22 billion, equating to a drop of 5 per cent

Although KFC has many more locations than Chick-fil-A, its sales have declined despite new menu items, such as boneless chicken pieces that were touted in 'I Ate the Bones' commercials.

Last year, U.S. sales at established KFC locations fell 5 percent.

Georgia-based Cjik-A-Fil posted $5 billion in sales for 2013, while the Col. Sanders empire recorded $4.22 billion.

Yum, based in Louisville, Ky., has also been testing a higher-end concept called 'KFC eleven' that has a similar feel to Chipotle and does away with mentions of founder Colonel Harland Sanders.

KFC had about 4,500 U.S. locations last year.

Yum also owns Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, both of which are on the rise.

Coming soon: The inaugural Super Chix store will open in Arlington, Texas, on Wednesday

Coming soon: The inaugural Super Chix store will open in Arlington, Texas, on Wednesday

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