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Written by Mark Hostutler - Editor, American Community Journals
Fried chicken and donuts may not have the long standing history of a perfect pairing like, say, peanut butter and jelly or milk and cookies. However, when the combination of fried chicken and donuts burst onto the local culinary scene in 2011, with the opening of Federal Donuts & Chicken, it gave Philadelphians a whole new reason to get out of bed in the morning. And their taste buds have never been the same.
“Donuts, coffee, and fried chicken (are the) the three major food groups here in the United States,” joked noted restaurateur Michael Solomonov, one of the co-founders of Federal Donuts & Chicken, known colloquially as FedNuts.
With the help of Firstrust Bank, FedNuts is expanding its presence in the suburbs, as franchisees Chris Magarity, Michael Sloane, and Michael Heller recently opened the second of their three planned locations. The trio are now operating stores in Radnor and Willow Grove and will soon be doing so in Conshohocken.
“We’ve been Philly guys our whole lives and fell in love with the brand when Michael and Steve (Cook) came out with it years ago,” said Magarity. “We learned about the opportunity for franchising and jumped on it as soon as we could.”
Magarity, Sloane, and Heller turned to Firstrust Bank and Relationship Manager Ashley Wycoff-Clark to secure the financing that brought their ambitious plans to life.
“Ashley, our partner at Firstrust, has been unbelievable to work with,” said Magarity. “As soon as we talked about where we wanted to be and what we wanted to do, they were immediately on board with us. It’s been very, very smooth. We’ve been able to open quicker than we think we could have with any other partner.”
FOX 29’s Bob Kelly recently visited the Willow Grove location and filmed a segment for “Kelly Drives,” his weekly ride around the Delaware Valley where he gives viewers a run down of what’s happening in local communities.
“I met the Fed Donuts team about a year ago, and when they told us they wanted to expand such a well-known and delicious Philly brand, we knew we wanted to be a part of their story,” Clark told Kelly. “While they focused on product growth and the expansion, we did all the things behind the scenes. We did the working capital lines, the commercial lines, and the cash management. We do that for everybody.”
Clark said that Firstrust’s recipe for small-business success is not rocket science.
“It’s really simple,” she said. “You take your customer. You give them a superb customer experience, superb customer service. You blend that with their goals and their visions, and you’ve got a decade-long, dynamite relationship.”
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