Popeyes

Popeyes was founded in Arabi, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans in St. Bernard Parish. It first opened its doors on June 12, 1972, as "Chicken on the Run".[4][10] Owner Al Copeland wanted to compete with Kentucky Fried Chicken,[11] but his restaurant failed after several months.[4][11] Copeland reopened the restaurant four days later as Popeyes Mighty Good Chicken.[11] By 1975, the company had been renamed as Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken.[11] Copeland started franchising his restaurant in 1976, beginning in Louisiana. The chain expanded to Canada in 1984, and opened its 500th restaurant in 1985.[4] 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.

By 1990, Copeland Enterprises was in default on $391 million in debts, and in April 1991, the company filed for bankruptcy protection. 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, another fast food chain specializing in chicken.[12] AFC went public in 2001 with initial public offering (IPO) of $142,818,479.[13] 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 the capital city of NSW, Sydney. [14]

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.[15]

As of 2018, Popeyes has 3,102 restaurants worldwide.[5][2]

Popeyes mild chicken

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, and coleslaw. In addition to fried chicken, other entree items include a chicken-and-sausage jambalaya and po' boy sandwiches. Most combo meals come with a side order and a biscuit, but without a drink. On October 30, 2006, AFC announced that Popeyes planned to introduce a trans fat-free biscuit as well as french fries containing one gram of trans fat by year-end.[22] 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.[23] For a limited time only in 2017, Popeyes offered "Sweet and Crunchy" chicken, fried chicken tenders coated in shortbread cookie breading.[24]

Chicken sandwich

Popeyes Chicken Sandwich (Spicy)

Popeyes began selling a chicken sandwich in August 2019 to compete with Chick-fil-A's similar sandwich. The chicken sandwich first launched at Los Angeles restaurant Sweet Dixie Kitchen, a locally-famous spot that was known for making sandwiches using Popeyes fried chicken.[25] The sandwich launched nationwide to all locations in the U.S on August 12, 2019, but had some advanced openings at the beginning of 2019.[25]

The marketing campaign, designed by advertising agency GSD&M started on August 12, 2019 at 7:32pm 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.[26][27] Popeyes reported a 103% increase in traffic in the days following the launch of the sandwich.[28] The sandwich helped Popeyes gather an estimated $23 million in free publicity since its launch.[29] Popeyes stores were routinely hit with long lines and often selling out of the sandwich.[30] 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.[31] On August 27, approximately two weeks after the launch, Popeyes announced that it had officially sold out of the chicken sandwich across the country.[32] 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".[33] On October 25, 2019, Popeyes announced that the chicken sandwich would return to locations across the US on November 3.[34]

Popeyes Chicken Sandwich is made of buttermilk-battered white meat on a brioche bun along with pickles and mayonnaise or spicy Cajun spread.[35] A single sandwich contains 700 calories, 42 grams of fat, 14 grams of saturated fat, 1.5 trans fat, 1443 milligrams of sodium fat, and 28 net grams of protein.[36]

On November 4, 2019, Ricoh McClaine, 30, was accused of murder in the fatal stabbing of a Popeyes customer in Oxon Hill, Maryland. McClaine allegedly stabbed 28-year-old Kevin Davis after Davis apparently cut in front of McClaine in line to purchase the trending chicken sandwich. McClaine was arrested a week later.[37]

Coleslaw from Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen

The restaurants' exteriors have a distinctive red-and-yellow 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 yellow 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[38] sung by New Orleans funk and R&B musician Dr. John.

In 2009, Popeyes introduced "Annie the Chicken Queen", a fictitious, upbeat, African-American Popeyes chef. 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 the Annie is all about", Lynch said.[39]

Popeyes has sponsored various NASCAR drivers since 2000. That year, NASCAR Busch Series driver Rich Bickle was sponsored by the company for six races,[40][41] while Mark McFarland received a one-race deal in the same series the following season.[42] In March 2018, Tyler Matthews made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut in the No. 99 Popeyes truck at Martinsville Speedway,[43] and the company also sponsored Brennan Poole and Vizion Motorsports for that year's Truck Series season finale at Homestead–Miami Speedway.[44]

Popeyes maintains a "Hall of Fame" of its franchise holders. Some international franchises, such as the ones located in Germany, France, and Japan, are located only on U.S. military installations and are generally not accessible to the local civilian public. Popeyes opened the first store in China on 15 May, 2020. [45]

• Cheryl Bachelder
• List of fast-food chicken restaurants

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits restaurants.

• Official website
• Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits at the Wayback Machine (archived November 11, 1998)
• MenuMasters 1999 Award: "Best Menu/Line Extension: Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits at the Wayback Machine (archived November 1, 2003)