The New Location
Chicken Salad Chick will open its second Maryland restaurant on September 23 in Olney's Village Center, at 18209 Village Center Drive — marking the brand's entry into Montgomery County and its continued push into the Mid-Atlantic. The grand opening will follow a week-long series of promotions, with the first 100 guests in line on opening day eligible to win free chicken salad for a year.
The Olney unit is owned by Jim Schleckser and Carrie Tydings, an engaged couple making their first foray into franchise ownership. Tydings brings a background in fundraising communications and holds degrees in French, journalism, and communications; Schleckser contributes business management expertise. Together, the pair bring more than 30 years of combined leadership experience to the venture. "When we were looking to open our own restaurant, we knew location was everything," Tydings said. "The vibrant community has embraced The Chick, and we know our delicious food is going to resonate with guests here."
Why It Matters for Operators
The Olney opening illustrates a franchise recruitment pattern worth watching across the fast casual segment: operators with no prior foodservice experience are increasingly drawn to concepts with streamlined, ingredient-focused menus. Chicken Salad Chick's model — built around made-from-scratch chicken salad in more than a dozen flavors, fresh sides, soups, sandwiches, and desserts — is designed to limit back-of-house complexity, a selling point that CEO and President Scott Deviney emphasized. "Olney Village Center is the perfect location for us to introduce more guests to the Chicken Salad Chick experience," Deviney said, citing the area's community and family-focused retail mix as a strategic fit.
For franchisees and multi-unit operators tracking fast casual expansion strategies, the Olney unit offers dine-in, takeout, third-party delivery, and catering — a revenue-mix approach increasingly standard among growing fast casual brands competing for off-premise volume.
Community and Brand Context
Community investment is baked into the Olney launch. Pre-opening Friends & Family events will raise funds for Manna Food Center, a Montgomery County nonprofit focused on food distribution, nutrition education, and emergency food assistance. The effort aligns with Chicken Salad Chick's broader CSC Foundation, which supports CURE Childhood Cancer and local food banks through year-round fundraising — a cause-marketing model that can strengthen franchisee ties to local markets.
The brand now operates more than 345 restaurants across 25 states, with its existing Maryland footprint anchored by a Westminster location at 255 Baltimore Blvd. For food and beverage industry professionals tracking Southern-rooted fast casual growth in the Northeast corridor, the Maryland push signals that the brand sees the region as a durable expansion target, not a one-off market test. Operators curious about the category dynamics driving brands like this one can find deeper context in our restaurant franchise and growth coverage.
The Olney restaurant will operate Monday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
