A fast-growing restaurant chain is planning a new location on St. Pete’s popular 4th Street. Chicken Salad Chick, which was started in 2008 in Auburn, Alabama, will soon open at 1221 4th Street North. 

Since being founded by Stacy Brown in 2008, the chain has grown to more than 140 locations in 16 states. The St. Pete restaurant will be owned and operated by local franchise team Paul and Linsay Rohr, who also own a Chicken Salad Chick location in Palm Harbor. 

Chicken Salad Chick is a southern-inspired restaurant that specializes in a variety of made-from-scratch chicken salads, which are served either by the scoop or on a sandwich. While the restaurant offers a traditional chicken salad recipe made with finely minced celery, mayonnaise and seasoning, they’re more known for their original creations. 

The restaurant offers twelve different chicken salad varieties including the Sassy Scotty, which is chicken salad with a zesty blend of ranch, bacon, and shredded cheddar cheese. Another option which looks pretty tasty is the Kickin’ Kay Lynne, which is chicken salad with a combination of buffalo sauce, ranch, bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, jalapeños, and Sriracha!

The Rohr duo chose to open in St. Pete because they’ve watched the rapid growth along the 4th Street corridor and believe Chicken Salad Chick has strong brand recognition in the area. In addition to the 4th Street location, the team is planning to open another outpost in Pinellas County as well as one in Trinity, FL.

The site of St. Pete’s Chicken Salad Chick is the former home of China City, a Chinese restaurant which was an icon along 4th Street for over 60 years. In 2015, the owner of the building decided to retire and put the property on the market for $930,000. The building ultimately sold to Noordstar Development in 2016 for $780,000.

The existing structure on the site will largely be demolished, sans a few exterior walls, with a new 2,800 square foot structure being built in its place. Chicken Salad Chick is currently in permitting and plans to open sometime in 2020, although an exact date has not yet been announced. 

Chicken Salad Chick’s building is just one of many new retail developments to join the 4th Street corridor in recent years.

Just across the street from the future Chicken Salad Chick building is the Shoppes on Fourth, a 9,030 square foot shopping center located at 1300 4th Street North. That center was built in 2018 and is 100% leased with tenants such as Zoe’s Kitchen, AT&T, Rubio’s Coastal Grille, and Eyeglass World. The building recently sold for $6.7 million in 2019.

In addition to Chicken Salad Chick, 2020 will likely bring several more retailers to the 4th Street corridor. A new shopping center will soon break ground on the site of the former Holiday Motel at 2436 4th Street North. The site sold for $3.3 million in 2019 and a new 15,000 square foot retail building is expected to be constructed. Several tenants have been announced for that building including Grain & Berry, Zoom Tan, and Amazing Lash. 

While Downtown St. Pete’s retail market primarily caters to small businesses and regional chains, national retailers like Chicken Salad Chick, tend to prefer 4th Street due to larger store sizes and the availability for off-street parking. Whether it’s a national chain or a mom and pop shop, St. Petersburg, FL continues to see strong demand for retail space in and around the greater downtown area.