Wingstop facts for kids
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| Public | |
| Traded as |
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| Industry | Restaurants |
| Genre | Fast casual fast food restaurant |
| Founded | 1994 Garland, Texas, U.S. |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | Addison, Texas, U.S. |
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Number of locations
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2,500+ as of May 2025 |
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Area served
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Key people
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Michael J. Skipworth (CEO) |
| Products | Chicken wings, chicken tenders, french fries, soft drinks |
| Revenue |  US$$282.5 million (FY 2021) |
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Operating income
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US$73.7 million (FY 2021) |
| US$42.6 million (FY 2021) |
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| Total assets | US$249.2 million (FY 2021) |
| Total equity | US$249.2 million (FY 2021) |
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Number of employees
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4,000 (2021) |
Wingstop Inc. is an American restaurant chain that mainly sells chicken wings. Wingstop restaurants have a special look. They are decorated to remind people of old airplanes from the 1930s and 1940s.
The first Wingstop restaurant opened in 1994 in Garland, Texas. The company started letting other people open Wingstop restaurants as "franchises" in 1997. A franchise means someone buys the right to use the company's name and sell its products. By 2025, there were more than 2,500 Wingstop restaurants around the world. The main office for Wingstop is in Addison, Texas.
In 2003, a company called Gemini Investors bought Wingstop. Then, in 2010, Roark Capital Group bought it. Wingstop became a "public" company in 2015. This means its shares can be bought and sold on the stock market.
History of Wingstop
Wingstop was started in 1994 by Antonio Swad and Bernadette Fiaschetti in Garland, Texas. The very first restaurant that was a franchise opened in 1997. By 2002, Wingstop proudly announced they had served two million chicken wings!
In 2005, Wingstop began serving lunch to its customers. A few years later, in 2009, they started selling boneless chicken products. These are chicken pieces without bones, which some people prefer.
Between 2014 and 2016, Wingstop grew very quickly. It was one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in the United States. In 2015, Wingstop became a public company. This means people could buy parts of the company, called shares, on the stock market. When this happened, their profits more than doubled.
In 2019, Wingstop started using a new slogan: Where Flavor Gets Its Wings. The next year, Wingstop made it easier for people to get their food. They started offering delivery in Dallas, Texas, through a service called DoorDash. Also in 2019, the Wingstop Team Member Foundation was created. This is a special group funded by employees. It helps other employees who are having money problems because of an emergency.
On June 21, 2021, Wingstop announced a new idea. They opened a digital-only restaurant called ThighStop. This new place sold chicken thighs instead of wings. The company said they did this to help save money.
Wingstop Around the World
Wingstop started to open restaurants outside the United States in 2010. The first international Wingstop opened in Mexico.
In 2018, Wingstop restaurants began opening in London, UK. Now, there are 20 locations in the Greater London area. A company called Lemon Pepper Holdings first brought Wingstop to England. Now, another investment company, Sixth Street, owns most of the franchises there.
In 2021, Wingstop made a deal with JPK Capital. They planned to open 100 Wingstop restaurants in Canada. The very first Wingstop in Canada opened its doors in June 2022.
The first Wingstop restaurant in Australia opened on May 17, 2025.
What's on the Menu?
The Wingstop menu has many chicken items. You can find bone-in wings, boneless wings, and chicken tenders. They also offer chicken sandwiches.
For sides, you can get fries, fried corn, and veggie sticks. These veggie sticks usually include carrots and celery. To go with your food, Wingstop offers different sauces. Some popular ones are ranch, blue cheese, honey mustard, and cheese sauce. There are 13 different wing sauces to choose from. Sometimes, they even have special sauces for a limited time.
See also
- List of chicken restaurants
