• by Teresa Buyikian , 3 hours ago

One of the nation’s largest chicken chains is ringing in its 30^th birthday with a continued commitment to animal welfare and a  …  pop-up museum?

Raising Cane’s opened a new pop-up museum next to the chain’s first location in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, known as the brand’s “The Mothership.” The unusual, free admission museum gives visitors a behind-the-scenes view of founder Todd Graves’ early years while he built the brand to the 1000+ locations it has today.  

Raising Cane’s has also committed $30 million over the next 10 years to pet welfare organizations, “supporting pets and the communities that love them.” Raising Cane’s founder Graves has also personally made a $20 million pledge to Re:wild, the wildlife conservation and preservation Leonardo DiCaprio, through the Todd Graves Family Foundation.

The pop-up museum is open until Sept. 4, where visitors can view historic photos, memorabilia and “actual artifacts from Graves’ earliest days,” such as the chain’s original business plan and blueprints for “The Mothership.” Cane III, the yellow lab that is the brand’s namesake, has a statue in the museum that is a 3D model of the dog’s exact body and stature. Also hanging inside the pop-up is the original disco ball Graves hung in “The Mothership,” a design element that carries through to all Raising Cane’s stores today.

Graves, who still heads the 1,000+ location chain, purchased the building that houses both “The Mothership” and his first apartment, recreating it for the pop-up in full 1990’s style with a brown paisley comforter, VHS tapes, old-school computer and cereal boxes sitting on top of the refrigerator.

Outside the pop-up is the Margaret Mae, Graves’ 1979 boat he worked aboard “fishing sockeye salmon in Alaska to help earn the money he needed to fund Raising Cane’s.”

The museum also houses the entire “Plush Puppy” collection, which reflects over 20 years of Raising Cane’s collectibles. The brand has released a limited-edition 30th Birthday Plush Puppy, decked out in 1990’s style with a backward red cap, red striped shirt and light-wash denim, with headphones and an old-school boombox. The plush, along with additional 30^th birthday merch such as vintage-inspired T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats, is available here through Sept. 22 while supplies last.