Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs is partnering with fast-food company Golden Chick to sell $5 corny dogs on Saturdays and Sundays this summer, from Memorial Day weekend on May 29 through Aug. 1, 2021.
The limited-time-only sale is a redux from last year, when the two Texas-based companies partnered for the first time and sold a whopping 475,000 corny dogs in eight weeks.
“We’re two legacy brands, and we came together last year when the State Fair closed,” says Jim Stevens, president of Golden Chick. “It was extremely successful for us, and we thought that if we had an opportunity to do it again, with the Fletchers, we would do it.”
The partnership dramatically increased Golden Chick’s sales in 2020, Stevens says — a rare success story during the devastating coronavirus pandemic, which caused 18% of restaurants to fail in Dallas-Fort Worth. For Golden Chick, the Fletcher’s deal was record-breaking: The company sold more food than it ever had in Golden Chick’s 54-year history during the first week of September 2020, when Fletcher’s corny dogs first went on sale in its drive-throughs.
Sales stayed high even after the corny dog partnership ended.
“It’s allowed us to maintain some strong volume from that point to this point,” Stevens says. The company ended the year up 20% higher than the year prior.
“And we think the jumping-off point, for us, was the relationship with Fletcher’s,” he says.
It marked the first time Fletcher’s sold its corny dogs at a fast-food joint, outside of the years when the family franchised its food from 1983 to 1992 in Arizona, Oklahoma and parts of Texas. Fletcher’s also sells corny dogs at pop-up events around North Texas. But its main draw is at the State Fair of Texas, when the family often sells more than 500,000 corny dogs in just 24 days.
Getting that same corny dog from Golden Chick last year proved an alluring option for Fletcher’s fans, it seems.
“It was a learning experience for us, because we’ve never done a large rollout like that,” says CEO Aaron Fletcher. “It was interesting to see public reception, as far as being able to get it every day.”
This year’s sale will involve some changes:
First, the corny dogs will only be available on Saturdays and Sundays, and mostly at Golden Chicks in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. (Last year, customers in Louisiana, Oklahoma and other parts of Texas could also buy them.) Stevens says 80% of the corny dogs sold last year were in D-FW specifically.
“We thought it was a good opportunity just to do it in that market,” he says.
Second, Fletcher’s corny dogs will be sold in the summertime, not the fall.
“We wanted to be very sensitive with the relationship the Fletchers have with the State Fair,” Stevens says. “We started thinking about how we could maneuver around that and not take away from that.”
And third, Golden Chick will refund anyone who isn’t satisfied.
“It’s hard to replicate the environment at the fair,” Stevens says, speaking of consumers’ emotional ties to Fletcher’s and its 79-year history with the State Fair of Texas. “We got some feedback from customers that said, ‘I don’t think this is the same product as we get at the fair.’ And it is: The Fletchers trained us on the product.
“What we wanted to do this year is say, ‘If you feel like you don’t feel like it’s the same product, that’s OK, we’ll refund your money.’ We don’t want the Fletcher’s customer base to get upset.”
Disgruntled customers can email baddog@goldenchick.com with a photo of their corny dog and a photo of the receipt.
CEO Fletcher confirms that the ingredients are identical: Golden Chick uses the same cornmeal batter — a secret family recipe — and the same pork-and-beef frank sold at the State Fair. There is a difference in frying: Golden Chick uses beef tallow oil, and Fletcher’s uses vegetable oil.
Because the corny dogs will be sold at fewer Golden Chick locations, just two days a week, the companies are setting a goal of selling a quarter-million corny dogs, or about half the number sold last year.
Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs will be sold at 87 Golden Chick restaurants from Saturday, May 29, through Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021. Saturdays and Sundays only. Corny dogs cost $5 or $7.99 for a combo, which comes with a drink and one side. Find the list of participating restaurants here.
