Chick-fil-A announced on September 21 a plan to open nine new locally owned franchise restaurants across western Pennsylvania by end of 2028, covering communities north, east, and west of Pittsburgh as well as the Johnstown-Altoona-State College corridor. The expansion is projected to create approximately 1,080 jobs and will be accompanied by a $25,000 donation to a Feeding America partner food bank for each new opening.
The announcement marks one of the largest coordinated development pushes of the franchise brand in the region in recent years. Chick-fil-A operates more than 3,000 locations across the United States, and western Pennsylvania has been one of the markets where the brand’s footprint has grown steadily since 2020.
Each restaurant is run by a locally selected franchisee who is expected to live and work full-time in the community they serve, a model the company calls the “Owner-Operator” program.
Chick-fil-A
“Eat Mor Chikin”®
- Restaurant
- Not disclosed
- Liquid capital: $Not disclosed
Nine Locations, Three Markets, a Two-Year Timeline
The nine planned restaurants are spread across three distinct clusters. North of Pittsburgh, a location in Mars is scheduled to open as early as October 2026, followed by Butler in spring 2027 and Gibsonia in 2028. Along the I-80 corridor, new restaurants are expected in Hermitage and DuBois by 2028.
East of the city, openings in Indiana (spring 2027), Murrysville, Latrobe, and Johnstown round out the pipeline through 2028. The Mars restaurant will be among the first to open, giving the brand an initial foothold before the broader wave of locations comes online.
Local Ownership and Community Investment Tied to Each Opening
The Owner-Operator model places a single franchisee in charge of one restaurant, with no multi-unit rights by default. Chick-fil-A selects these operators from a competitive applicant pool, and they are expected to be full-time, hands-on leaders on the floor.
On the community side, the brand has committed to donating $25,000 to a local Feeding America partner food bank or affiliate for each of the nine new restaurants, representing a total charitable commitment of up to $225,000 across this expansion. Chick-fil-A described hunger relief as a central focus of its local giving programs.
What the Expansion Signals for the Brand’s Northeast Development
Western Pennsylvania adds to a broader pattern of Chick-fil-A growth in markets that historically had limited brand presence outside major urban cores. The nine-unit announcement covers smaller cities and outer suburbs alongside traditional suburban Pittsburgh corridors, a shift that reflects the brand’s ongoing effort to expand into secondary markets.
The company has publicly stated a goal of creating 80 to 120 jobs with each new restaurant opening, which tracks with the approximately 1,080 projected positions across the nine sites. No financial terms for the individual franchise agreements were disclosed.
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