Last Tuesday, Raising Cane’s celebrated quite the impressive feat — the grand opening of the chicken chain’s 680th restaurant, located at 3617 Horizon Blvd. in Trevose.
A steady stream of customers stopped by during its operating hours of 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., with early arrivals entered into a Lucky 20 drawing to win free meals for a year. Attendees also enjoyed a food truck serving complimentary hot chocolate and coffee, live music from a DJ and games to win Raising Cane’s swag.
This marks the second location in Bucks County (the other is in Fairless Hills) and the fifth in Pennsylvania. Dustin Shearer, vice president of company restaurants, fry cook and cashier, expressed his excitement to The Times over this latest expansion.
“The community welcomed us with open arms. So far, it’s been phenomenal,” he said. “We wanted to go to Philadelphia and opened restaurants near the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. But we thrive in the suburbs, it’s great to partner with those communities. This is a restaurant that’s been in the making for well over two years.”
A massive aspect of the company is its mission to partner with the schools, nonprofits and other organizations near each Raising Cane’s location.
So far, the Trevose restaurant already announced that it’s donating funds to Bensalem High School, Women’s Animal Center, YWCA’s food pantry and Northeast Family YMCA.
According to Shearer, the Active Community Involvement program focuses on six key areas: education, feeding the hungry, pet welfare, active lifestyles, business development/entrepreneurship and anything else that doesn’t fall into those categories. Those interested in partnering with Raising Cane’s should visit raisingcanes.com/community-partnerships.
“The whole reason we’re in business today is because of community partnerships,” said Shearer. “Without that connection and without that 360, there is no business.”
Area middle and high schools are often the first partnerships that Raising Cane’s looks to form. The Trevose spot hired over 100 crew members, many of whom are students looking for their first bit of work experience.
As for its partnerships with animal welfare organizations, this makes sense given the backstory of Todd Graves, who founded the first Raising Cane’s in 1996 at the North Gates of Louisiana State University. Though he initially planned to call the restaurant Sockeye’s, a nod to his travels in Alaska, he instead went with Raising Cane’s — the name of his beloved Labrador Retriever, who was a regular guest at the construction site.
Customers can get their hands on adorable plush versions of the pup, including holiday versions dressed like Home Alone’s Kevin McCallister and other characters.
When asked what has kept Raising Cane’s thriving for so many years, Shearer named a few reasons. First, he said it’s a “people-first organization” when it comes to crew members and customers alike. Second is the quality of the menu items, including fresh-never-frozen chicken fingers and sauce, the latter of which is made by the management team every morning.
“I think all of those elements really set us apart,” he said.
Graves’ idea to open a restaurant that solely sells chicken fingers was met with skepticism at first. A college professor frowned upon his business plan when he submitted it for a class, and the bank denied him a loan.
Needless to say, he was onto something, with Raising Cane’s slated to open 100 more locations in eight new markets this year. Clearly, there’s a reason why it’s been referred to as the “Fastest Growing Chicken Chain.”
Regarding the Trevose location, customers can utilize several ordering options, including the mobile app, multi-lane drive-thru, carry out and dine in. The restaurant is open Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday until midnight.
“We’re just excited to be here,” said Shearer. “We thank the community for welcoming us with open arms.”
Samantha Bambino can be reached at [email protected]
