Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. is an American multinational Restaurant chain of fried chicken restaurants founded in 1972 in New Orleans and headquartered in Miami.[ It is currently a subsidiary of Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International. , Popeyes has 3,705 restaurants,]
History
Popeyes was formed in Arabi, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, Louisiana, in St. Bernard Parish. It first opened its doors on June 12, 1972, as "Chicken on the Run".[ Copeland reopened the restaurant four days later as Popeyes Mighty Good Chicken.][ By 1975, the company had been renamed as Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken.][ Copeland started franchising his restaurant in 1976, beginning in Louisiana. The chain expanded to Canada in 1984, and opened its 500th restaurant in 1985.][ B. P. Newman of Laredo, Texas, acquired several franchises in Texas and surrounding states. Two hundred additional locations were added during a period of slower expansion.
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By 1990, Copeland Enterprises was in default on $391 million in debts it had taken on in its 1989 purchase of Church's, a rival fast food chain also focusing in Southern fried chicken, and by April 1991, the company filed for bankruptcy protection.[ AFC Enterprises Initial Public Offering] On December 29, 2004, AFC sold Church's to Arcapita (formerly Crescent Capital Investments) retaining Popeyes.
On August 8, 2000, Popeyes announced a franchise development plan/agreement that included 35 new restaurant locations around Australia in a bid to solidify their presence within the Asia Pacific region. All were to be located in Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales.
On January 21, 2014, AFC was renamed as Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., and its NASDAQ ticker symbol was changed to PLKI.
On June 17, 2014, Popeyes announced it had re-acquired full control of its seasonings, recipes, and other proprietary food preparation techniques from Diversified Foods & Seasonings, which remained under the control of Al Copeland and his estate after the creditor sale of Popeyes to AFC. Popeyes had continued to license the seasonings, recipes, and techniques from DF&S for a yearly 'spice royalty', before buying them outright for $43 million. DF&S remains the main supplier for Popeyes until at least 2029.
Acquisition by Restaurant Brands International
On February 21, 2017, Restaurant Brands International announced a deal to buy Popeyes for US$1.8 billion.
Name
Alvin C. Copeland claimed he named the stores after the fictional detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (portrayed by Gene Hackman) in the 1971 film The French Connection,[ Martin, Douglas. "Al Copeland, a Restaurateur Known for Spice and Speed, Dies at 64" . The New York Times, March 25, 2008][Hoffman, Ken, "Chicken Cordon Bleu est TACO tres magnifique", King Features Syndicate, published in The Gazette of Cedar Rapids-Iowa City, Iowa, June 19, 1998, p. 2, ("chain was named for Popeye Doyle, the cop in The French Connection") Archived online at newsbank.com . Retrieved March 27, 2008] which came out a year before the chain was founded, and not the comic strip character Popeye.
However, the company's early brand became deeply tied to the cartoon star with its sponsorship of the Popeye & Pals children's show in New Orleans, and the character appeared on items from packaging to racing boats.
The chain later acquired rights to use Popeye the Sailor for marketing and used this for 35 years.[ "Popeyes ditches ex-spinach-eating pitchman" . The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, November 26, 2013.]
The name is spelled "Popeyes", without the apostrophe commonly used by other restaurant chains such as McDonald's and Hardee's. Copeland claimed facetiously that he was "too poor" to afford an apostrophe.
Products
Popeyes serves chicken dishes in mild and spicy flavors and offers sides such as red beans and rice, French fries, mashed potatoes with Cajun-style gravy, dirty rice, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, and biscuits. In addition to chicken, Popeyes also serves seafood entrées such as shrimp and catfish.[ Dow Jones newswire (Oct. 31, 2006): "AFC's Popeyes Chicken Plans Low Trans-Fat French Fries", by Richard Gibson ] On November 18, 2011, AFC announced that, for the Thanksgiving holiday, Popeyes would release a Fried Turducken sandwich that would show off the first ever Turducken patty. On July 29, 2013, AFC began offering a special entree of fried chicken strips dipped in waffle batter, which was already a proven success in some markets.
Chicken sandwich
Popeyes began selling a chicken sandwich in August 2019 to compete with Chick-fil-A's similar flagship sandwich. The company first launched the sandwich at Long Beach restaurant Sweet Dixie Kitchen, a locally-famous spot that had become known for reselling fried chicken that it had purchased at Popeyes.
The marketing campaign, designed by advertising agency GSD&M started on August 12, 2019, with a tweet on Popeyes' Twitter feed. The new sandwich went viral immediately and prompted responses from nearly every fast food chain including McDonald's, Chick-Fil-A, and Wendy's.
In September 2020, Popeyes' chicken sandwich went on sale in Canada.
Style and marketing
The restaurants' exteriors have a distinctive orange and white color scheme. The original locations had a black lava rock exterior with a red shingled roof. Most older locations have covered the rock exterior to conform with the current orange stucco appearance. During the 1970s and 1980s, the company occasionally licensed characters from the Popeye comic strip to use in its advertising. TV and radio ads often use New Orleans-style music, along with the trademark "Love That Chicken" jingle
In 2009, Popeyes introduced "Annie the Chicken Queen", a fictitious, upbeat, African-American Popeyes chef played by actress Deidrie Henry.
Popeyes has sponsored various NASCAR drivers since 2000. That year, NASCAR Busch Series driver Rich Bickle was sponsored by the company for six races,
Popeyes has made use of various slogans in television advertisements, including "Love that chicken from Popeyes".
International franchises
Some international franchises, such as the ones located in Germany and Japan, are located only on US military installations and are generally not accessible to the local civilian public.
Popeyes arrived in the Philippines in 2001 but left in 2007 due to a problem with the franchisor;
In December 2020, Popeyes announced that it would be closing all locations in South Korea due to poor sales partially attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Popeyes opened its first store in Indonesia in 2000 under PT Popeyes Chicken Seafood Indonesia (later taken over by PT Popindo Selera Prima in 2002) and had opened its store in Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Medan and Samarinda, but the last store in Puri Indah Mall, West Jakarta closed in 2011. Popeyes returned to Indonesia under PT Sari Chicken Indonesia, an affiliate of Mitra Adiperkasa and opened its first store in Skyline Building, Central Jakarta on December 23, 2022.
In August 2023, British private equity firm TDR Capital invested into Popeyes UK.
Sustainability
Animal welfare
In January 2023, Popeye's parent company, Restaurant Brands International, committed to sourcing 100% cage-free eggs by 2030.
See also
Notes
External links
