Raising Cane's plans to open another 12 restaurants in Greater Philadelphia
Roosevelt Mall
Published On: Jul 19
Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers' rapid expansion in Greater Philadelphia will continue over the next three-and-a-half years as the brand plans to open another 12 restaurants in the region through 2027.
Since May 2022, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based chain has opened 10 locations in Greater Philadelphia. It has another six confirmed in its pipeline and is currently exploring other areas of the region in which it could grow, regional vice president Warren Sewell told the Business Journal.
Known for its combo meals, Raising Cane's serves chicken fingers, chicken sandwiches, fries, Texas toast and its popular Cane's Sauce. The chain, founded in 1996, has about 800 locations around the globe.
The first of the brand's next six Greater Philadelphia restaurants to open will be the Raising Cane's at the Roosevelt Mall in Northeast Philadelphia. The location is set to start welcoming customers sometime in September, according to Sewell. The 3,000-square-foot location is a part of Brixmor Property Group's $50 million redevelopment of the shopping center and will join the recently opened Sprouts Farmers Market.
Raising Cane's outposts at 2632 W. Moreland Road next to the Willow Grove Mall and 860 Bethlehem Pike in North Wales are expected to open toward the end of the year, Sewell said. The brand will also open two more South Jersey restaurants at 5241 Route 42 in Turnersville and 695 Delsea Drive in Glassboro at the end of 2024 or in early 2025.
Another Raising Cane's at Snyder Avenue and South Swanson Street in South Philadelphia is slated for a 2025 opening, Sewell said. Located near John's Roast Pork, the restaurant will be one of several tenants on a 6.2-acre former industrial site being demolished to make way for a shopping center.
Sewell, who oversees Raising Cane's expansion in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, said the chain chose these restaurants, especially the suburban ones, for its next expansion to bring the brand to its clientele located further outside of Philadelphia proper.
“The customer base out there right now is traveling into the city, or to the closest location they can,” he added.
Each of the new Raising Cane's will be company owned like the existing 10 locations in the region.
Sewell said the brand is looking in Wilmington and Dover for further expansion in Delaware but declined to share where else in South Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania it is eyeing for the other six locations. He added that Raising Cane's has a lot of "whitespace" in South Jersey and has been eyeing sites in the area.
“We have pretty great expansion plans in Jersey overall," Sewell said.
Raising Cane's entered the Philadelphia market in 2022 with the opening of its University City location at 3925 Walnut St., near the University of Pennsylvania's campus. Since then, it has added outposts near Temple University, in the Eastwick neighborhood of Philadelphia, Trevose and Fairless Hills.
The brand's first and only Delaware store in Newark debuted in April 2023. In April of this year, the chain opened its first four South Jersey restaurants in Burlington, Marlton, Cherry Hill and Deptford.
Although the number varies based on the size of each restaurant, a Raising Cane's location on average employs between 130 and 140 people, according to Sewell. That figure would mean the chain has created between 1,300 and 1,400 jobs in Greater Philadelphia so far in its expansion. An additional 12 stores would employ another 1,560 to 1,680 people in the region.
Raising Cane's operates restaurants in formats ranging between 2,900 square feet to 3,200 square feet, including drive-thru locations and nontraditional stores without drive-thrus. The chain conducts both ground-up buildouts and conversions for its stores. Its forthcoming location in Glassboro, for example, is being built on the site of a former Rite Aid.
