Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits

Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits

Infobox Company
company_name = Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits
company_
company_type = owned by AFC Enterprises
foundation = 1972
location = Atlanta, Georgia
slogan = Louisiana Fast
key_people = Al Copeland, Paul Edelman
revenue = $167 Million (2007) [ [http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/nsd/afce/afce2007ar.pdf, "AFC Enterprises 2007 Annual Report", afce.com] ]
industry = Fast food
num_employees =
products = Fried chicken, Cajun foods, biscuits
homepage = [http://www.popeyes.com/ www.popeyes.com]
company_slogan = Popeyes Is Bona Fide

Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits (often referred to as Popeyes) is a chain of fried chicken fast food restaurants, owned since 1993 by the Atlanta-based AFC Enterprises (originally America's Favorite Chicken Company). According to a company press release dated June 29, 2007, Popeyes is the second-largest "quick-service chicken restaurant group, measured by number of units", [ [http://www.popeyes.com/news/news.asp?n=83 "Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits Offers 'A Side of Hope,' to America's Hungry Families", press release, popeyes.com] ] with more than 1,800 restaurants in more than 40 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 20 countries worldwide including Hong Kong Airport, Jordan, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Canada, Jamaica, Mexico and Panama. About 30 locations are company-owned, the rest franchised. [ [http://www.hoovers.com/popeyes/--ID__105593--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml Hoovers/Dun & Bradstreet: Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits] ]

No to be confused with "Popeye the Sailor".

History

Popeyes Mighty Good Fried Chicken first opened in Arabi, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, in 1972 as "Popeye Family Fried Chicken", owned by Al Copeland. As the company's official history states, they sold "traditional mild fried chicken [but] business was slow, and the chicken team realized they'd have to sell a spicier alternative to their standard chicken recipe if they wanted to impress flavor-seeking New Orleanians.

Copeland began franchising his restaurant in 1976, beginning in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and added approximately 500 outlets over the next 10 years. 200 additional locations were added during a period of slower expansion. In 1989, Popeyes, then the third-largest chicken chain, merged with Church's Chicken, the second largest, [ [http://www.churchs.com/ Church's Chicken official website] ] though parent company AFC Enterprises operated the two chains separately. On December 29, 2004, AFC sold Church's to Arcapita (formerly Crescent Capital Investments), retaining Popeyes.

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. [ [http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Content.asp?ContentID=80211 Dow Jones newsire (Oct. 31, 2006): "AFC's Popeyes Chicken Plans Low Trans-Fat French Fries", by Richard Gibson] ]

On March 23, 2008, Copeland passed away from a malignant salivary gland tumor. [ [http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/al_copeland_dies_in_germany.html Pope, John. "Al Copeland dies in Munich, Germany"] . "The Times-Picayune", posted online March 23, 2008, 3:42 PM] [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/business/25copeland.html?ref=obituaries Martin, Douglas. "Al Copeland, a Restaurateur Known for Spice and Speed, Dies at 64"] . "The New York Times", March 25, 2008]

Name

Copeland claimed he named the stores after the fictional detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in the movie "The French Connection" [Hoffman, Ken, "Chicken Cordon Bleu est 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") [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CR&z=CRGB&p_theme=cr&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAFE97540B025E0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Archived online at newsbank.com] . Retrieved March 27, 2008] and not the comic character Popeye the Sailor. Copeland would claim facetiously that he was "too poor" to afford an apostrophe. The chain later acquired rights to use Popeye the Sailor for marketing. The company's early brand became deeply tied to the comic character with its sponsorship of the "Popeye & Pals" children's show in New Orleans, and the character appeared on items from packaging to racing boats. As of 2006, the Popeyes' online history omits any reference to the character, though some international markets, notably Puerto Rican restaurants, continue to use the Popeye the Sailor theme.Fact|date=March 2008

tyle and marketing

The restaurants have a distinctive red-and-yellow color scheme. TV and radio ads often use New Orleans-style music, along with the trademark "Love That Chicken" jingle [ [http://www.popeyeschicken.com/downloads.html "Love That Chicken" lyrics and audio] ] sung by New Orleans funk and R&B musician Dr. John. The original and other older 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.

Number of franchises

Source: [http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/popeyeschickenandbiscuits/282707-0.html Entrepreneur.com: Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits]

Popeyes maintains a "Hall of Fame" of its franchise holders. Among the inductees is Morgan W. Walker, Jr. (1928-2008), originally from Alexandria, Louisiana, who held a franchise in the Washington, D.C., area from 1979-2007.

Legal action

On January 5, 2007, ten Popeyes restaurants in McAllen, Texas, and throughout the Rio Grande Valley suddenly closed without warning or notification. Popeye's corporate office tried to communicate with the franchisee of the restaurants, CVI Company Ltd., but to no avail. It was later discovered that CVI sold all 10 restaurants to Church's Chicken, but Popeyes corporate affirmed that it had not been notified, nor had it given permission for the sale. Closing the restaurants was in violation of the local franchisee's agreement. On February 28, 2007, Popeyes filed a $20 million lawsuit against Church's over the sudden buy-out, accuses Church's of "collusion" and creating an "intentional, malicious, and tortious scheme" to break a franchise agreement. [ [http://www.themonitor.com/onset?id=412&template=article.html Arnold, Kyle. "Popeyes Files Suit Over Church's Buyout"] . "The Monitor", March 1, 2007]

In pop culture

*Popeyes chicken is touted as one of the major attractions of life on Earth by the title character in the film "Little Nicky" (2000).
*In the TV show "Boy Meets World", there are Popeyes Chicken boxes in most of the apartments.
*Comedian Larry the Cable Guy mentions Popeyes Chicken in the film "".
*In the 2001 motion picture "Rush Hour 2", Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) is confronted by an Asian woman who tries to sell him a live chicken in an outdoor market. He retorts: "I don't like my chickens live. I like 'em dead and deep fried. Ever hear of Popeyes?" This scene was featured prominently in the film's advertising.
*In the political satire "War, Inc." (2008), a Popeyes store is used as the front for the Tamalane Fortified Command Center.
*Rapper Rick Ross makes reference to Popeyes in his song "Billionaire" on album "Trilla".
*Rapper Andre Nickatina makes reference to Popeyes (and in specific, their "hot fries") on many of his songs, even going so far as to read off his receipt in one.

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.popeyes.com/ Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits official website]
* [http://www.afce.com/portfolio/popeye.html AFC Enterprises: Popeyes]
* [http://www.menumasters.com/1999/1999_popeyes.cfm MenuMasters 1999 Award: "Best Menu/Line Extension: Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits] (with background article)

External links

* [http://www.shapefit.com/popeyes.html Shapefit.com: "Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits Calories - Fast Food Nutrient Details"]
* [http://contracts.onecle.com/afc/popeyes.dev.shtml Onecle.com: "Sample Business Contracts: Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits Development Agreement"]


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