In 2021,KFC put up a new facade on its Mineral Point store in Madison. Five years later, it's just a plain white box.

Photos by Retiring Guy

That was then

Nation's Restaurant News, 5/25/2021

To give an idea of the scale of KFC’s growth over the past year and potential moving forward, the quick-service chain plans to almost triple in size from 25,292 to 75,000, with a new store opening every five hours in 2021. Over the last two quarters alone, the company has opened 700 units. The strength of this growth projection is aided by “attractive unit-level returns for franchisees, a flexible real estate strategy” and opportunities in emerging markets globally, including Africa, Russia, the Middle East, and India, according to analysis from Baird Equity Research.

 This is now 

 Mashed, 1/23/2026

New years are an opportunity to reset, assess goals, and e xamine past performance and current capabilities. This applies to people, organizations, and businesses. KFC, home of the Original Recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken, appears on track to go full throttle with its comeback plans, which began in 2025. KFC was once the biggest fast food chain in America. And while its icon status is undeniable, the restaurant has sadly slipped down the ranks as other fried chicken fast food chains have performed better during the past years. As the fast food chicken wars intensified throughout the last decade, fried chicken chains are doing better than ever, and even fast casual and full-service restaurants are beginning to offer more poultry options. Sadly for KFC, its store sales declined for six consecutive quarters by the end of 2025.