Ricky Stuart II on Growing Chicken Express and His Love for TCU Athletics

WHEN RICHARD “RICKY” STUART II ’96 began his college career at TCU, he had no intention of joining Chicken Express — the family business — after graduation.

He was 14 when his parents, Richard and Nancy Stuart, founded the Texas-based fast-food chain beloved for its juicy fried chicken, sweet corn nuggets and iced tea that’s brewed all day long by a dedicated “tea person,” earning it a cult following. By 16, Stuart — alongside many of his friends — was working at Chicken Express as much as he could.

A couple of years later, as a TCU student, he decided to study advertising and public relations with the intention of learning something different, he said. But in the end, the family business won him over.

“By the time of my senior year at TCU I thought, ‘Maybe the chicken deal isn’t so bad.’ ”

Today, Stuart and his parents run the Chicken Express empire, which now boasts nearly 250 locations, most of which dot small towns across Texas. The family, Stuart said, has never had titles — just a unique ability to work together. Ten stores are his own, with an 11th on the way in Owasso, Oklahoma.

Stuart’s success has enabled him to support his hobbies, he said, including a diehard fervor for TCU Athletics that inspires him to give to the university. His stewardship ultimately led him to join the Board of Trustees.

“I think my passion for wanting TCU to win at everything has kept me involved,” he said. “It’s probably a sickness, but it’s a good sickness.”

The chain’s flying-hen logo nods to its origins in delivery.

THE CHICKEN BUSINESS

Stuart’s father — who was known as “the chicken man” in their hometown of Mineral Wells, Texas, when Stuart was a kid — worked for a food distributor for years before owning multiple locations of Golden Fried Chicken (today known as Golden Chick). He sold his seven locations when the company was purchased in 1982. When his noncompete clause ended, he was free to start his own chicken chain.

“That day we came up with Chicken Express,” Stuart said. Though he was just a teenager at its inception, Stuart remembers weighing in on his parents’ decisions on creative aspects of the business, such as its red, yellow, black and white color palette, and Chicken Express’ signature logo showing a fast-flying hen.

“The logo shows the flying chicken because we started out with delivery, like Domino’s Pizza,” Stuart said.

The first Chicken Express location opened in 1988 on U.S. Route 377 in Benbrook, where it still sits today. A second followed in Mineral Wells that same year, and soon, a dozen more. The young Stuart worked at the Mineral Wells location, just west of Fort Worth, while in high school.

“I did everything. I wanted to be the best guy washing dishes, the best cook, the best at waiting on customers,” Stuart said. “I didn’t want other employees thinking I didn’t know how to do anything.”

That drive continued until he swapped his daily grind for a college career at TCU, a decision he said he made on a whim after a friend at the university convinced him to apply.

“Back then, parents weren’t really behind you pushing for everything,” he said. “I think I put in an application the Christmas before.”

While he was a TCU student, Stuart only occasionally visited the closest Chicken Express location, he said, picking up food to appease his older fraternity brothers.

But as graduation approached, Stuart said, the chicken business called to him. He partnered with one of his father’s employees to franchise his first store inside a gas station in Willow Park, Texas, opening it in the fall of 1997. Soon, he was back to long hours behind a Chicken Express counter, this time training employees on the duties he mastered as a teenager.

Eventually, Stuart began visiting new franchisees to help get them up and running. He’d spend a week or two at a location to implement a corporate training program of sorts before bouncing to another location.

If a franchisee wanted to retire, Stuart would take over the location. If a store wasn’t performing well, Stuart would help make it profitable again, a practice he continues to this day. Stuart maintained his hectic schedule after getting married and starting a family, spending many nights away while his son, Trey Stuart ’26, was a toddler.

“Luckily, we started growing and getting enough good people where I didn’t have to travel as much,” he said, adding that he was home more once Trey started playing sports and entered high school.

Stuart and his parents run Chicken Express, and his son, Trey Stuart ’26, has also joined the business.

Trey, who grew up to major in finance at TCU and played basketball as a walk-on, has also joined the business. He puts his computer and technical skills to work helping with logistical tasks at Chicken Express’ warehouse and distribution center, as well as Stuart Group Inc., the parent company of Chicken Express.

Despite its growth, Ricky Stuart said, Chicken Express is still the same family business.

“There are still some older franchisees that came in with my dad who want to talk to him,” Stuart said. “Then there are newer ones who want to call me. We have this yin and yang where it works.”

FEEDING A PASSION

“It’s probably a sickness, but it’s a good sickness.”
Ricky Stuart II on his passion for wanting TCU to win at everything

Stuart’s support of the Neeley NIL program, a collaboration between TCU’s Neeley School of Business and TCU Athletics that gives student-athletes opportunities to build their brands, is driven by his devotion to Horned Frog sports.

“Whatever sport it is, I’m in and I’m always going to say yes,” he said. “I want them all to succeed.”

Stuart’s ongoing support has resulted in close relationships with student-athletes — and more than 50 internship hires, he said, over the past decade. Many look to him for mentorship and business advice.

“Student-athletes come by all the time and want to know, ‘How do I get where you are today?’ ” Stuart said. “I tell them there was a time, back in my 20s, when I was working hard and long hours. I think that’s one of the biggest misconceptions is that you don’t have to put in hard work.”

He joined TCU’s Board of Trustees at the suggestion of Chris Del Conte, former TCU athletic director, and today serves on the intercollegiate athletics, fiscal affairs, and buildings and grounds committees.

“Beyond his generous financial support, his passion and love for the Horned Frogs are what make Ricky and his family such wonderful people to have on our side,” said Mike Buddie, athletic director at TCU since early 2025.

While Stuart said that his Board of Trustees work has allowed him to learn about the university beyond sports, he remains unapologetic about the importance of athletics.

“I’m one of those that believes what has helped TCU the most is primetime sports,” he said. “It’s great that we have a good business school and a good nursing school, but most of these kids heard of us because of sports.”

Stuart has also channeled his Chicken Express success into commercial real estate ventures, joining fellow alumni Jared Shope ’91 and Kyle Poulson ’94 in 2SP Partners, whose holdings they manage through another joint venture, Mopac Management. The group is constructing its new headquarters at the north edge of campus, on University Drive.

“It’s really our little hobby on the side,” Stuart said. “It’s fun and it keeps us all together.”

The men partnered with Gus Bates IV ’90 on one of Mopac Management’s newer projects, Cullen Yards, a 12,000-square-foot event venue four miles north of campus. Graciela Todd, former Sodexo general manager and longtime TCU event planner, joined as managing partner and director of events on the concept, which opened in 2025.

“I oversaw Ricky’s football suite and baseball patio when I worked at TCU,” Todd said. “He’s a great TCU team player. He’s very giving and just a genuine person. He really believes in the students and will do anything that can help them in their careers.”

Stuart still helps out at Chicken Express stores when needed.

COMFORT FOOD

While Stuart doesn’t typically work hands-on inside Chicken Express stores these days, he still helps when needed. During a Texas ice storm, Stuart drove his truck to pick up a crew of employees to open a Weatherford location when other restaurants remained closed.

“I still know how to do everything, but I’m out of practice,” he said. “My manager said, ‘Ricky, just go back there and make mashed potatoes and gravy and wash dishes.’ I just laughed and said, ‘All right, I know where I am supposed to be.’ ”

As food trends come and go, Stuart said that comfort foods are here to stay. At Chicken Express, he said, it’s hard to beat two pieces of what he calls “chicken on the bone” paired with a side of fried okra and a pickled jalapeño.

“Fried chicken isn’t going anywhere,” he said. “People love it, and we appreciate their business more than we can express.”