Zaxby’s Coming to the DMV, First Locations to Open by End of Year
Zaxby’s, a Southern fast-casual restaurant specializing in chicken, is planning to enter Maryland’s consumer market by the end of this year.
A franchise is expected to open soon in District Heights, and several more are planned for the Eastern Shore and the Baltimore metropolitan region, such as the first location in Cambridge, which owners hope to open by the end of this year.
“Baltimore offers an incredible opportunity for us, and we’re thrilled to partner with the Lattakia Group, a dedicated and experienced local team,” said Zaxby’s Chief Development Officer Mike Mettler. “This marks the beginning of our presence in Baltimore and nearby communities.”
With an estimated 900 locations, Zaxby’s plans to open 200 more restaurants nationally in the next several years.
Eastern Shore developers Curtis Snyder, Teresa Snyder and Thomas Mitchell saw Zaxby’s while vacationing in South Carolina and were impressed. According to company reports, an individual Zaxby’s location can generate $2.7 million in annual gross revenue, compared to $1.4 million for a KFC storefront or roughly $1.9 million for a Popeyes storefront.
“We’ve always wanted to bring something special to the Eastern Shore, and Zaxby’s is the perfect fit. The quality of the product, combined with the brand’s growth strategy, convinced us this was the right move. Maryland residents, along with travelers from Baltimore and D.C. heading to the shore, are going to love it,” said Curtis Snyder, according to PRNewswire.
He also said that a menu centered on one protein simplifies the menu and lowers operating expenses.
Raising Cane’s and Slim Chickens, both Southern fast casual restaurants, have also opened locations in Prince George’s and surrounding counties in past years, while multiple online reports denote Chick-fil-A as the most-searched fast food restaurant in Maryland.
Bojangles, a competing fast food chain, closed all of their locations in Prince George’s last year and only one, located in Frederick, remains open in Maryland.
Zaxby’s vice president of development Bert Lane is excited to spread the franchise along the East Coast, with Maryland and the DMV region as the next target markets of expansion.
“As those markets have continued to fill in, we’re looking at new markets going up along the northeast corridor. We’ve stretched into Virginia, and from there we’ve started looking at the D.C. and Baltimore metro areas, and Maryland overall,” he said.
Moore Relocates Cannabis Incubator
A planned business incubator for cannabis entrepreneurs is being relocated from Catonsville to a different location, following community outcry about the site’s proximity to schools and limited public input.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) is now restarting the search process for a new location for a cannabis incubator, expected to serve more than 100 microbusinesses by storing their product securely.
“Upon further review of this project and the selection of the Maryland National Guard William J. Witte Armory in Catonsville as the preferred site for the cannabis incubator, I have concluded that the state should explore new options for its location,” he said in a July 2 statement.
After reconsidering the current site, the governor directed the Maryland Cannabis Administration, Maryland Department of General Services, and Maryland Economic Development Corporation, to explore new locations for the cannabis incubator project.
“As part of their site review, I have instructed the agencies to identify locations that are not within close proximity to residential communities and schools,” he continued. “The agencies will begin this new process immediately, conduct extensive community and stakeholder engagement, and work quickly to move the project forward.”
This site, once completed, would be the first state-owned cannabis incubator in the nation.
A list of 37 potential locations, including Temple Hills’ Beechley Square Business Center and Bowie’s Collington Plaza Shopping Center, was listed in a December 2023 report to select the site.
Local legislators, including Maryland Sen. Charles Sydnor III (D- District 44), acknowledged community concerns regarding the lack of public input in the process, despite the potential financial boost this would provide to the surrounding area.
“The District 44 legislators who represent Catonsville have heard significant input from the community about the proposal to establish a cannabis incubator in the old Catonsville armory,” read a statement released shortly before Moore announced the relocation. “We have been working hard to advocate for our constituents and ensure that concerns were heard by the administration.”.
Maryland Leaders React to FBI Staying in D.C.
Dealing another blow to Prince George’s County– after losing a bid for the Commanders to stay in Landover and an announcement that Six Flags America is closing in Bowie, FBI leadership has announced that the agency’s new headquarters will be at the Ronald Reagan Building in Northwest, D.C. and not in Prince George’s County.
The current site, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, has fallen into disrepair and despite the U.S. General Services Administration initially selecting a 61-acre site in Greenbelt for the FBI headquarters, both President Donald Trump (R) and FBI Director Kash Patel have spoken for months about their desire to keep the agency in D.C. near the Department of Justice.
“Moving to the Ronald Reagan Building is the most cost-effective and resource-efficient way to carry out our mission to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution,” said Patel in a statement.
Millions of dollars have already been invested into the effort to bring the new headquarters to Greenbelt, and the multibillion-dollar project was expected to boost the Maryland economy.
“The FBI deserves a headquarters that meets their security and mission needs — and following an extensive, thorough, and transparent process, Greenbelt, Maryland, was selected as the site that best meets those requirements. Not only was this decision final, the Congress appropriated funds specifically for the purpose of the new, consolidated campus to be built in Maryland,” read a joint letter from Gov. Wes Moore (D), County Executive Aisha Braveboy (D), and Maryland’s congressional delegation to protest the decision.
Virginia legislators, who formerly competed with Maryland for the project, also criticized the decision to keep the agency in D.C., after the plans to move to Greenbelt were underway.
County Council Chair Ed Burroughs III (D- District 8) noted how much the new development would have positively influenced Prince George’s long-term economic future.
“The vision was to have the FBI anchor economic development in that area, including private businesses and homeowners as well to be a part of it,” said Burroughs.
While acknowledging the hard loss for the county, Burroughs also urged caution and patience amid trying times.
“The county is not going to fall apart. It’s unfortunate what the president is doing. It certainly has an impact,” he continued. “People are suffering as a result of a number of his decisions. But with all that being said, Prince Georgians are resilient, and we will make it through this.”