BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Chester's International LLC has opened its 200th locations this year. The recent openings of locations inside Bailey's in Franklin Furnace, Ohio, College Marathon in Indianapolis, Ind., and Sunmart Store #115 in Fargo, North Dakota, took the fried chicken foodservice program past the milestone.

"Chester's success can be attributed to our commitment to our retailers, and in return the store operators commitment to the brand," said Kathryn Kudulis, brand manager. "It's exciting to be part of a company where focus on the customer is evident from the top down." Chester's now operates in more than 1,800 locations in the U.S., Canada, Central America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, said the company. Franchise Times ranked Chester's #164 in its top 200 franchise systems, and Entrepreneur.com ranked it at #229 in its Franchise 500, Chester's added.

"It's an excellent time to be partnering with a fried chicken QSR like Chester's", said Jennifer Peek, internal sales manager. "We provide on-site training, grand opening support, and scheduled consulting visits for each of our locations."

Chester's started business in 1952 by opening the Hol-In-One Donut business, which later started frying chicken and became a franchise in 2002.