When Shaquille O’Neal went into the fast-casual dining business, he was not naive about how competitive it was. In-N-Out and Cheesecake Factory were among his staples. He’s run Papa John’s and Krispy Kreme franchises for years. So when he took his love for chicken sandwiches and turned it into Big Chicken Shaq, he wasn’t oblivious to the road ahead. Regardless, like the LSU standout arriving in a league that still had Michael Jordan in 1992, O’Neal and his business partners took Big Chicken into the crowded franchising business in 2021. The goal is to bring smiles. However, Big Chicken has to survive in a competitive landscape to fulfill Shaq’s goal. Michigan might just be the test for it.

The Shaq factor boosted Big Chicken’s success in Las Vegas and Texas, where new locations opened up rapidly. However, other celebrity joints have not survived competition in Michigan. Could Shaq be an example of the contrary?

Big Chicken Shaq’s biggest rival came in the way once

Two years after expanding Big Chicken, its CEO Josh Halpern signed a deal with H&D Group Investments, a Michigan-based franchising group, in August 2023. The initial plan was to open 20+ Big Chicken franchises in the Wolverine state. A month after this deal, a local publication researched which chain restauranteur is the most popular in the state.

According to a 2021 study, Subway is the most popular in Michigan, with 887 locations across the state. It outranks McDonald’s in the second spot by 300 locations. With a stronghold like that, the sandwich titan has very little to fear about an NBA legend’s emerging fast-casual chain. After all, it has its own TNT-bred NBA greatness.

Shaq, who named dishes on the menu after his career and loved ones, named the sloppiest sandwich the ‘Charles Barkley.’ Then the namesake signed an endorsement deal with Subway and Shaq renamed his dish to the ‘Big and Sloppy.’ It did nothing to the popularity of the mac-and-cheese stuffed sandwich.

But Subway had to do nothing to take a toll on another celebrity chain. Shaq’s old friend, Guy Fieri launched his own fast casual chain, Chicken Guy, in Livonia. His restaurant was flanked with a Chick-Fil-A, which is not even a top 12 popular restaurant in the state, and a Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken. Locals on social media narrated that Fieri’s restaurant was empty most days. Eventually, it shuttered on June 30 citing uncontrollable circumstances, though most believe it was crushed by competition.

While Chicken Guy was struggling, the first Michigan outlet of Big Chicken opened at 11476 N. Linden Road in Clio this February. Another in Metro Detroit’s Hartland Township was announced this month and more are coming. Shaq’s even taken over Fieri’s Livonia location to open a Big Chicken there. But some locals on social media are sceptical after Fieri’s experience.

The secret sauce of Shaq’s success

An example of Big Chicken’s tenacity, just like its namesake, is more visible in Texas. The Houston and Austin stores are thriving amid the Church’s Texas Chicken, Chick-Fil-A and so many more local chains. O’Neal has a way of surviving and it has to do with the experts he hired.

The restaurant group behind Big Chicken, JRS Hospitality, brought Josh Halpern for the job. Halpern has decades of experience growing CPG brands like Anheuser Busch. He makes becoming a Big Chicken franchisee tougher than getting into an Ivy League school. But Halpern’s not here to dish out opportunities to Shaq’s fans to get closer to the big man. He’s looking for franchisees with considerable management experience to operate a store or more through competition.

Opening a Big Chicken franchise is roughly a $1.4 million investment, a little steep compared to established franchise giants. About 20 locations in Michigan alone, is a $28 million task that needs to succeed. Coincidentally, Halpern appeared on Room For Seconds at the time of this writing where he said Big Chicken Success is dependant on unit-level economics. So protecting franchisees’ financial health, operating in inflations, and putting value over discounts are part of Halpern’s job.

‘Profits’ is not the endgame of ‘The Shaquille Way.’ According to Halpern, Big Chicken is to create smiles and that strategy has kept O’Neal’s business growing.