---
title: "From Raising Cane's to The Coop: The Econmics of Chicken Tenders"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/aa99b82f-249e-4510-9f9c-711e3d41c68c
source: "Empires Weekly"
original_url: https://empirespod.substack.com/p/from-raising-canes-to-the-coop-the
author: "Patrick Buckley"
category: "Chicken"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Chicken"
topics: ["Development & multi-unit"]
published: 2026-07-20T20:14:05.000Z
modified: 2026-07-20T20:15:14.171Z
image: https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ybw6!,w_1200,h_600,c_fill,f_jpg,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-video.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fvideo_upload%2Fpost%2F207820825%2F7da46a94-004c-4d9d-b0d7-228bb7ca0ec8%2Ftranscoded-1784578008.png
---

# From Raising Cane's to The Coop: The Econmics of Chicken Tenders

**TL;DR:** Eliot McDonald, founder of The Coop, discusses his chicken tender concept and its progress after transitioning from a shift manager role at Raising Cane's. The discussion is part of the Empires podcast, which explores top brick and mortar businesses through stories and interviews of multi-unit franchise operators and founders.

*By Patrick Buckley, originally published in Empires Weekly on 2026-07-20. [Read the original](https://empirespod.substack.com/p/from-raising-canes-to-the-coop-the).*

## Story

[](https://empirespod.substack.com/) [](https://empirespod.

substack.com/) SubscribeSign in [](https://empirespod.substack.

com/) Empires From Raising Cane's to The Coop: The Econmics of Chicken Tenders 1× 0:00 Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -1:09:01 -1:09:01 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. From Raising Cane's to The Coop: The Econmics of Chicken Tenders [](https://substack.

com/@patrickbuckley) Patrick Buckley Jul 20, 2026 Share Transcript Eliot McDonald went from Raising Cane's shift manager to founding his own chicken tender concept. We discuss everything about chicken tenders & QSR, and how his restaurant chain is doing thus far OPEN NEW LOCATIONS IN WEEKS WITH CLOUDKITCHENS: https://l.cloudkitchens.

com/empires -- BUY OR SELL FRANCHISES WITH OUR TEAM: https://www.empirespod.com/ Discussion about this episode CommentsRestacks [](https://empirespod.

substack.com/) Empires Empires explores the top brick & mortar businesses through stories, and interviews of multi-unit franchise operators, founders, and executives. Empires explores the top brick & mortar businesses through stories, and interviews of multi-unit franchise operators, founders, and executives.

Subscribe Listen on Substack App Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube RSS Feed Appears in episode [](https://substack.com/@patrickbuckley?utm source=author-byline-face-podcast) Patrick Buckley Recent Episodes Why Handel's is the 1 Ice Cream Business in America Jul 10•Patrick Buckley How One of the Largest Family Owned Fast Food Empires Was Built (265+ units) Jul 2•Patrick Buckley The Bagel Wars: How H&H Is Scaling Without Private Equity Jun 22•Patrick Buckley The Evolution of Subway - Bill Mathis (3 unit owner) Jun 10•Patrick Buckley The Iconic New York Slice Shop That's Franchising (Prince St.

Pizza) May 28•Patrick Buckley Building Jersey Mike's - 25 Unit Operator May 15•Patrick Buckley Inside the Largest KidStrong Empire (60+ Units) Apr 30•Patrick Buckley Ready for more?

## Entities

- Multi-Unit (sector)
- qsr (topic)
- restaurant chain (topic)
- Raising Cane's (company)
- multi-unit franchise (topic)
- Patrick Buckley (person)
- Empires Weekly (publication)
- chicken tenders (topic)
- The Coop (company)
- Eliot McDonald (person)
- Empires (company)

---
Originally reported by Patrick Buckley, Empires Weekly (https://empirespod.substack.com/p/from-raising-canes-to-the-coop-the). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/aa99b82f-249e-4510-9f9c-711e3d41c68c).