Chester's
Chester’s International is the fifth-largest fried chicken quick-service restaurant in the U.S. with more than 1,800 locations and operations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, and Canada. Its headquarters are located in the former Village Wine Market building at 2020 Cahaba Road in Mountain Brook.
From 2002 until 2012 the headquarters were located in leased office space at 3500 Colonnade Parkway in Birmingham. The Giles family, owners of Chester's, purchased and renovated the Mountain Brook property in 2012.
W. O. Giles opened the first restaurant in 1952 in Montgomery. In October 1965 he created Chester the Chicken and adopted him as the emerging food service company’s mascot, named for the Chester Goode character on Gunsmoke, a favorite T.V. show of Giles. In 1974 his restaurant was renamed Chester Fried. In 2002 the chain was renamed "Chester's".
Today, Chester’s is predominately found as a food service offering in convenience stores and travel plazas across the country. The company began franchising its concept in July 2004 and has grown to in-line locations in shopping plazas and mall food courts.
References
- Chester's International. (December 9, 2007). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed December 28, 2007.
- Poe, Ryan (May 25, 2012) "Family-owned Chester’s moves HQ to spot in Mountain Brook." Birmingham Business Journal