Hall Of Famer Randy Moss Invests In Chick-A-Boom Restaurant Franchise

Randy Moss was scrolling through his cell phone last November when he came across a sponsored Instagram post for Chick-A-Boom, a small restaurant franchise in Philadelphia. Moss, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and one of the best wide receivers in NFL history, liked the post.

He thought it was an innocuous gesture, but it nonetheless caught the attention of Brittany Tolliferreo, who founded Chick-A-Boom with Kirk Hightower, her husband. A few days later, Tollifferreo reached out to Moss and explained her vision for Chick-A-Boom.

After visiting Philadelphia earlier this year, tasting the food and meeting Tolliferreo and Hightower, Moss was sold on Chick-A-Boom. He invested in the startup, received an equity stake and began mapping out plans for the company’s growth.

On Saturday, Moss will attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Chick-A-Boom’s drive-though location in Philadelphia. There’s also a Chick-A-Boom food truck in the city and a concession stand at Lincoln Financial Field, where the Philadelphia Eagles play their home games.

Chick-A-Boom plans on opening its next store in West Virginia, where Moss grew up and played college football at Marshall University. The company may also open a sports bar or lounge in West Virginia some day, too. And Moss has visions of expanding to Charlotte, N.C., where he currently lives, as well as other Southern states.

“For me to be able to be an entrepreneur, to team up with Brittany and her husband and her team here at Chick-A-Boom has been everything that I expected it to be,” Moss said. “I think now it’s time for the company to really try to branch off. I want to be the first one to have me a store and I want to bring it back to my people.”

Even before meeting with Tolliferreo and Hightower, Moss had spoken with his wife, Lydia, about investing in Black-owned businesses. They had originally thought about investing in a clothing company, but Moss changed his mind when he spoke with Tolliferreo and Hightower and heard their story.

Tolliferreo said she first thought about opening Chick-A-Boom a few years ago when she had some friends over to her house and made chicken sandwiches for them. After receiving some positive feedback about the food, Tolliferreo noticed a vacant storefront in her hometown of Folcroft, near the Philadelphia airport and about 15 miles from the city’s downtown area. In 2019, she contacted the building’s realtor and opened the first Chick-A-Boom restaurant.

“(Cooking) was something that I definitely loved,” said Tolliferreo, who worked as a bank teller before founding Chick-A-Boom. “I like to be creative and just be in the kitchen, so it just it just worked for me.”

During the coronavirus pandemic, Tolliferreo and Hightower altered the company’s business model and focused on drive-through and food trucks rather than sit-down restaurants. The company offers chicken sandwiches, wings and tenders as well as waffles, donuts, French Fries and other items.

Tolliferreo and Hightower have thought about expanding Chick-A-Boom for a couple of years and have received positive responses, but nothing came to fruition until Moss’s investment.

“I’ve gotten feedback (from other celebrities and athletes),” Tolliferreo said. “But one thing I can say about Randy is that Randy is a man of his word. I explained to Randy what my vision was, and he believed in me. With other people, not everything might have worked out, but with Randy it did. I’m very grateful for that.”

During an interview on Friday, shortly after arriving in Philadelphia, Moss noted that chicken “is about all that I eat,” and it’s been that way since his playing days when he became an all-time great. He finished his career with 982 receptions (No. 15 in NFL history), 15,292 yards (No. 4) and 156 touchdown catches (No. 2).

Since retiring in 2012, Moss has worked in the media, including the past few years for ESPN. He will be part of the network’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” show again this year. He said he’s also enjoyed spending time with his family and pursuing hobbies such as fishing, but he was looking at being more involved with investments when he came across Chick-A-Boom. It was good timing for him, as well as for Tolliferreo and Hightower.

“The win-win situation for me with Brittany and Kirk was sharing the same views and sharing the same values – family, community, giving back,” Moss said. “I just think that when you look at their story and follow their story of how they brought this from the bottom, it just speaks volumes of who they are. I think the sky’s the limit for Chick-A-Boom, and I just want to be a part of this movement.”