Lenard’s chicken franchises celebrate opening of 200th store

The Lenard's brand has grown immensely since its humble beginnings 23 years ago, with the company this week celebrating the addition of the 200th store to its national network of chicken franchises.

The new store, Lenard’s Hibiscus in Leanyer, Darwin, represents a significant milestone for the chicken franchises, and one founder and director Len Poulter says the company has been looking forward to.

“We are so pleased for Lenard’s in Leanyer to draw the lucky number. Darwin is both a strong and growing area for Lenard’s, and the Franchise Owners Fernando and Melissa Lay are experienced and fantastic business operators,” he says.

Lenard Poulter founded the Lenard’s concept in the mid 1980s when he noted a gap in the market at his Queensland butcher shop. He noted that at the time, 46% of his sales were for value added chicken products.

With nothing like it on the Queensland retailing landscape, the concept quickly generated considerable customer support, and on the back of his successful formula, Len quickly grew the chain of chicken franchises throughout Queensland and Australia.

“The next major challenge is to expand the franchise into lucrative overseas markets and to constantly look at any avenues that may better distribute the Lenard’s product and brand to a wider audience of consumers,” Len adds.

Since open the first of its retail franchises in 1987, Lenard’s has served more than 160 million customers, sells more than 13 million chickens a year and has injected more than $1 billion into the Australian poultry market.