Popeyes

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc.is an Americanmultinationalchainoffried chicken restaurantsfounded in 1972 in New Orleans and headquartered in Miami.It is currently a subsidiary of Toronto-basedRestaurant Brands International. As of 2021, Popeyes has 3,705 restaurants,which are located in more than 46 states and theDistrict of Columbia,Puerto Rico, and 30 countries worldwide.About 50 locations are company-owned; the other ~98% arefranchised.
Popeyes was formed inArabi, Louisiana, a suburb ofNew Orleans, Louisiana, inSt. Bernard Parish. It first opened its doors on June 12, 1972, as "Chicken on the Run".OwnerAl Copeland(1944–2008) wanted to compete withKentucky Fried Chicken,but his restaurant failed after several months.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 ofLaredo, Texas, acquired several franchises in Texas and surrounding states. Two hundred additional locations were added during a period of slower expansion.
By 1990, Copeland Enterprises was in default on $391 million in debts it had taken on in its 1989 purchase ofChurch's, a rival fast food chain also focusing in fried chicken, and by April 1991, the company filed forbankruptcyprotection.In October 1992, the court approved a plan by a group of Copeland's creditors that resulted in the creation of America's Favorite Chicken Company, Inc. (AFC) to serve as the new parent company for Popeyes and Church's.AFC went public in 2001 withinitial public offering(IPO) of $142,818,479, and began trading on theNASDAQunder ticker symbol AFCE.On December 29, 2004, AFC sold Church's toArcapita(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.
On February 21, 2017,Restaurant Brands Internationalannounced a deal to buy Popeyes for US$1.8 billion.On March 27, 2017, the deal closed with RBI purchasing Popeyes at $79 per share via Orange, Inc, an indirect subsidiary of RBI.
Alvin C. Copeland claimed he named the stores after the fictionaldetectiveJimmy "Popeye" Doyle(portrayed byGene Hackman) in the 1971 filmThe French Connection,which came out a year before the chain was founded, and not thecomic stripcharacterPopeye the Sailor.
However, the company's early brand became deeply tied to the cartoon star with its sponsorship of thePopeye & Palschildren'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.In late November 2012, AFC announced the mutual termination of their licensing contract withKing Features Syndicate, effectively ending their association with the Popeye characters.
The name is spelled "Popeyes", without theapostrophecommonly used by other restaurant chains such asMcDonald'sandHardee's. Copeland claimed facetiously that he was "too poor" to afford an apostrophe.
Popeyes serves chicken dishes in mild and spicy flavors and offers sides such as red beans and rice,Cajun fries, mashed potatoes with Cajun-style gravy,Cajun rice,macaroni & cheese,biscuits, andcoleslaw. In addition to chicken, Popeyes also serves seafood entrées such as shrimp and catfish.On October 30, 2006, AFC announced that Popeyes planned to introduce atrans fat-free biscuit as well as french fries containing one gram of trans fat by year-end.On November 18, 2011, AFC announced that, for theThanksgivingholiday, Popeyes would release a Fried Turducken sandwich that would show off the first everTurduckenpatty. 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.For a limited time only in 2017, Popeyes offered "Sweet and Crunchy" chicken, fried chicken tenders coated in shortbread cookie breading.In 2021, Popeyes introduced a flounder sandwich.
Popeyes began selling a chicken sandwich in August 2019 to compete withChick-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 sandwich launched nationwide to all locations in the US on August 12, 2019, but had some advance openings at the beginning of 2019.
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 andprompted responses from nearly every fast food chainincludingMcDonald's, Chick-Fil-A, andWendy's.Popeyes reported a 103% increase in traffic in the days following the launch of the sandwich.The sandwich helped Popeyes gather an estimated $23 million in free publicity since its launch.Popeyes stores routinely sold out of the sandwich and experienced long lines,and a man outside of a Maryland Popeyes chain was stabbed to death during a dispute over a cutting in line for a chicken sandwich.Locations across the US were supposed to have enough materials to last them until the end of September. Instead, restaurants were almost entirely sold out after less than two weeks.On August 27, approximately two weeks after the launch, Popeyes announced that it had officially sold out of the chicken sandwich across the country.One person in Tennessee sued Popeyes, claiming that his inability to get the sandwich has caused him to be "hustled out of money", making Popeyes guilty of "false advertising" along with "deceptive business practices".On October 28, 2019, Popeyes announced that the chicken sandwich would return to locations across the US on November 3.Popeyes chicken sandwich is made of buttermilk-battered white meat on a brioche bun along with pickles and mayonnaise or spicy Cajun spread.
In September 2020, Popeyes' chicken sandwich went on sale in Canada.
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 thePopeyecomic strip to use in its advertising. TV and radio ads often use New Orleans-style music, along with the trademark "Love That Chicken" jinglesung by New OrleansfunkandR&BmusicianDr. John.
In 2009, Popeyes introduced "Annie the Chicken Queen", a fictitious, upbeat,African-AmericanPopeyes chef played by actressDeidrie Henry.The character is meant to be "honest, vibrant, youthful and authentic" according to Dick Lynch, Popeyes Chief Marketing Officer. "Everyone has a relative or a good friend who will give it to them straight, and that's what Annie is all about", Lynch said.
Popeyes has sponsored variousNASCARdrivers since 2000. That year,NASCAR Busch SeriesdriverRich Bicklewas sponsored by the company for six races,whileMark McFarlandreceived a one-race deal in the same series the following season.In March 2018,Tyler Matthewsmade hisNASCAR Camping World Truck Seriesdebut in the No. 99 Popeyes truck atMartinsville Speedway,and the company also sponsoredBrennan PooleandVizion Motorsportsfor that year's Truck Series season finale atHomestead–Miami Speedway.
Popeyes has made use of various slogans intelevision advertisements, most notably "Love that chicken from Popeyes".
Some international franchises, such as the ones located inGermanyandJapan, are located only onUS military installationsand are generally not accessible to the local civilian public.
Popeyes arrived in thePhilippinesin 2001 but left in 2007 due to a problem with the franchisor;it later returned with a new deal with Kuya J Group in 2018 and opened its first branch inPasigon May 19, 2019.Popeyes opened their first store inChinaon May 15, 2020,and in March 2021, it announced plans to open stores inMexicoand theUnited Kingdom,with the first restaurant in the latter country, locating atWestfield Stratford Cityopening on November 20, 2021.Restaurant Brands International signed a master franchise and development agreement with Indian companyJubilant FoodWorkson March 24, 2021, to operate Popeyes restaurants inIndia,Bangladesh,NepalandBhutan.The first Popeyes restaurant inSouth Asiaopened inBambalapitiya, Sri Lanka on February 25, 2021.
In December 2020, Popeyes announced that it would be closing all locations inSouth Koreadue to poor sales partially attributed to theCOVID-19 pandemic.In October 2021, Popeyes signed an agreement with Romanian company Sterling Cruise to open 90 restaurants inRomaniain the next 10 years, the first one opened on April 9, 2022.In January 2022, Popeyes Signed an agreement with South Korean Tuna Supplier Shilla International to open again in South Korea, the first one opened in January 2023.
Popeyes opened its first store inIndonesiain 2000 under PT Popeyes Chicken Seafood Indonesia (later taken over by PT Popindo Selera Prima in 2002) and had opened its store inJakarta,Bandung,Yogyakarta,Surabaya,MedanandSamarinda, but the last store in Puri Indah Mall,West Jakartaclosed 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 Jakartaon December 23, 2022.
In August 2023, British private equity firmTDR Capitalinvested£50 millioninto Popeyes UK.In 2024, Popeyes announced that it would be opening stores inNew ZealandandTaiwanlater that year.It forced a small fish and chip shop called Popeye's Takeaways inFeilding, New Zealand, to change its name although the shop does not sell fried chicken.