--- title: "Layne’s Franchisee Worked at First Location, Opens His Own" url: https://burnaze.com/article/ed7df9f5-7651-4fd8-ac20-d7937906d0c7 source: "1851 Franchise" original_url: https://1851franchise.com/from-college-employee-to-franchisee-how-a-loyal-laynes-fan-from-day-1-became-an-owner-2725711 category: "Restaurants" industry: "Restaurants" topics: ["Development & multi-unit"] published: 2024-04-08T13:08:03.000Z modified: 2026-10-31T20:49:56.831Z image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/2c4ff5cb090c3460dfe2e64b118a6ddf4417.jpg --- # Layne’s Franchisee Worked at First Location, Opens His Own **TL;DR:** Michael Hickerson, a former employee of Layne's Chicken Fingers, has opened his own franchise location in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Hickerson worked at the first and second Layne's locations while attending Texas A&M and decided to become a franchisee to bring the brand's southern cuisine to his community. *originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2024-04-08. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/from-college-employee-to-franchisee-how-a-loyal-laynes-fan-from-day-1-became-an-owner-2725711).* ## Story Michael Hickerson has been a loyal fan of Layne’s Chicken Fingers* , the Soon-to-be FamousTM chicken franchise, from the very beginning. As a college student at Texas A&M, he worked in both the first and second Layne’s locations, even helping prep the building for the second location, and he still craves the iconic chicken fingers all these years later. In fact, Hickerson loved Layne’s food so much that he decided to become a franchisee to bring his beloved southern cuisine to the Cheyenne, Wyoming, area where he and his family live. Hickerson admits that there have been a few times over the years when he thought about calling his old boss and the brand’s original owner, Mike Garratt, to see if he could open a location in Wyoming. Still, he didn’t realize how plausible this truly was until recently. “I have always loved Layne’s food and the brand, but when I worked there, it wasn’t a franchise yet, so I didn’t realize franchising opportunities were available,” said Hickerson. When his brother mentioned a Layne’s was coming to their hometown in Texas, Hickerson did some research. When he discovered that the brand offered franchise opportunities, he jumped at the chance to become an owner. From working in the first two locations to becoming a business owner with the brand, Hickerson’s journey with Layne’s has been enjoyable at every step. He even looks forward to passing down his Layne’s restaurant to his children someday. 1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you? Hickerson: I have worked in banking and real estate for a while now, but my journey with Layne’s started when I was in college. I went to college at Texas A&M. Mike Garret was the guy in charge of Layne’s then. I worked there at Layne’s original location while I was in college, and he was in the process of opening the second store in College Station at the time. Once that opened up, I worked at that location quite a lot. Mike is a unique individual. He is a classic entrepreneur, watching his own money in his investment and taking responsibility for its success. I helped him out with some grouting work and things like that on some of his other investment properties back then, and I also helped with a few jobs around the second Layne’s location when it was first being built. I remember helping paint some of the built in furniture, for example. I have always loved Layne’s food and the brand, but when I worked there, it wasn’t a franchise yet, so I didn’t realize franchising opportunities were available. Recently, my brother told me there was a Layne’s opening in Corsicana, Texas, which is where I’m from, so I looked into it and discovered Layne’s was, in fact, offering franchising. I reached out to Layne’s right away; I wasn’t necessarily searching for a business venture, but this was a great opportunity to bring some of my favorite southern food to my new community in Wyoming and I couldn’t pass it up! Hickerson: I am brand new! I am nervously excited about what this will all look like. I love food and I always loved the idea of owning my own restaurant. I could never do it on my own though. The franchise model includes somebody smarter than me testing out the concepts before I enter the picture. The brand has had a chance to refine its processes and products in a way that would be really difficult for an independent business owner. The major benefit of a franchise is that you've got a team behind you supporting you. Hickerson: I think their food is excellent. Layne’s was in the area of my college town long before [Raising] Cane’s came around. All the students went to Layne’s; it was almost considered unloyal to go to Cane’s as a student. Layne’s was just a great atmosphere; that fun has been carried into the decor and brand. Hickerson: We are currently looking for premises in either Laramie or Cheyenne, but we hope to have one in each location. It would be cool if I continued to grow and develop beyond that, but I have a lot to figure out with this initial location first. Hickerson: In my day-to-day job, I’m a banker but I’m a behind the scenes guy, so this will be an adjustment for me to be the face of this brand on a local level. My wife and I want to do this together. We want our kids to be able to grow into this, too. We’ve already told them they will work there one day, and our 11-year-old daughter is already itching to run the register. Everything we do, we do it as a family. My kids will learn some great work ethic from this experience when they are older, and we can hopefully pass the business down to them someday. Hickerson: The best piece of advice I got was to talk to existing franchise owners. They are in the trenches and have a lot of feedback. Folks are happy to talk about their success most of the time. That’s a great way to learn more about your potential experience. Founded in 1994 in College Station, the original location became a Texas A&M legend known for its small-town charm, friendly service, iconic chicken fingers and secret sauce. While opening corporate locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the leadership team focused on fine tuning its operations and starting to franchise. ## Entities - 1851 Franchise (publication) - Restaurants (sector) - franchise expansion (topic) - restaurant opening (topic) - franchisee story (topic) - Layne's Chicken Fingers (company) - Raising Cane's (company) - Texas A&M (company) - Mike Garratt (person) - Cheyenne, Wyoming (location) --- Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/from-college-employee-to-franchisee-how-a-loyal-laynes-fan-from-day-1-became-an-owner-2725711). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/ed7df9f5-7651-4fd8-ac20-d7937906d0c7).