Which chains are opening the most stores?

18 of the 31 chains we grade have more US locations on their store locators than a year ago. The fastest verified growth is Dutch Bros: +192 locations (▲ 17.7%) since October 2025. Most of the growth is in drive-thru coffee, fast-casual restaurants and discount grocery.

12-month change on the store locator. Paler bars are estimates, not yet anchored to a company count.

Growing chains, ranked

Chain	US count	Change	12 months	Grade
Dutch Bros	about 1,270	+192	▲ 17.7%	B
Cava	505	+76	▲ 17.7%	B
Wingstop	about 2,730	+381	▲ 16.2% estimate	A
Raising Cane's	1,000	+88	▲ 9.6% estimate	B
Chipotle	about 4,170	+348	▲ 9.1% estimate	B
Sheetz	865	+51	▲ 6.3% estimate	B
Aldi	about 2,740	+159	▲ 6.2% estimate	B
Trader Joe's	664	+36	▲ 5.7% estimate	B
Chick-fil-A	3,420	+161	▲ 4.9% estimate	B
Costco	654	+25	▲ 4.0%	B
Buffalo Wild Wings	about 1,410	+45	▲ 3.3% estimate	B
O'Reilly Auto Parts	about 6,590	+187	▲ 2.9%	A
Hobby Lobby	about 1,100	+28	▲ 2.6% estimate	B
Bath & Body Works	about 1,820	+29	▲ 1.6%	B
Dollar Tree	about 9,080	+109	▲ 1.2%	A
The Home Depot	about 2,010	+14	▲ 0.7% estimate	A
Chili's	about 1,210	+4	▲ 0.3%	A
Dollar General	about 20,500	+12	▲ 0.1%	A