Monday, November 19, 2012

Popeyes Eats Their Spinach and KFC's Lunch Too

Atlanta-based Popeyes is opening a new location in southeast Atlanta.


The popular chicken restaurant is well underway, turning a vacant piece of land at the corner of Moreland Avenue and Vickers Street into a new restaurant.  Not so long ago, the 1211 Moreland Avenue parcel was home to a Huddle House, but it had been vacant for months.

Popeyes is also opening a new location on North Druid Hills Road, in front of North DeKalb Mall.

While Popeyes is well known in Atlanta, with plenty of locations, they are taking an inventive, albeit controversial approach, expanding in the Minneapolis and northern California markets.  Popeyes recently won court approval to purchase a total of 28 KFC restaurants from bankrupt Wagstaff Management.  14 of the restaurants are located in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, markets where Popeyes currently has little presence.  Plans call for all 28 locations to reopen in 3-5 months.  Interestingly in this case, there was a competing offer from KFC corporate, but Wagstaff's primary creditor, GE Capital, opted to accept a lower offer from Popeyes.  Apparently GE has no trust in KFC and therefore wanted basically anyone other than KFC to take over.  

According to many industry observers, Popeyes has been steadily growing in both sales and store count over the past couple of years.  KFC, on the other hand, one third of the Yum! Brands trifecta  that also includes Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, has been slipping.   KFC recently reported the weakest sales at stores open at least a year of any Yum! concept.  

What is your favorite chicken chain?  Zaxby's? Chick-fil-A? Popeyes? El Pollo Loco?  Guthrie's? Raising Cane's?  KFC?  ... or are you a vegetarian? Do you think  Popeyes will overtake KFC in sales?  Please weigh in and share your thoughts.  

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Taco Bell used to be pretty decent. But they have really gone downhill of late. When they changed from real shredded cheese to whatever-squeezy-melty crap they use now ... that was the last straw for me. Then there is the whole meat that's not really meat stuff.

Just nasty now.

TheJohnP said...

I know you love Zaxby's but I find their chicken way overpriced and even more overhyped. Guthrie's makes better strips, not that they have much of a presence in town.

El Pollo Loco was great, shame they didn't last. Need to give Pollo Campero a try as they seem to serve a similar product.

Not familiar with Raising Cane's.

Atlantan99 said...

@TheJohnP,

I've actually become less a fan of Zaxby's as of late a result not only of the price, which seems to have gone up, but also the insane amount of grease. I mean, I realize its freakin fried chicken, it's gonna be greasy but my most recent visits have left me disgusted. (Sad too, as now there are a number close to my house. )Guthrie's has a location in Dunwoody at Georgetown and another in Norcross near Peachtree Parkway, but yea, other than that, it's good, but hard to find.

I did / do LOVE EPL but yea, they left and I'm super sad bout that. My local location on Buford Highway was one of the last to close and still sits vacant, a constant reminder of my old spot.

Raising Cane's is from Baton Rouge and often located on or near college campuses. I first saw them in Athens but first tried their tenders at Boston University a couple years back. The tenders were good, but I still prefer Guthrie's.

ps, the Publix Deli makes a mean chicken tender... #JustSayin.

Thanks for the comments and for reading the site.

Happy soon to be Turkey Day!

Anonymous said...

EL POLLO LOCO WAS TRASH. Run back to California with your tail between your legs just like Baja Fresh and soon enough, Fatburger.

Zaxby's is okay, but I find their portions to be smaller compared to what I can get for the same price at Popeye's, and Popeyes' food tastes better. Chick-Fil-A isn't bad either but I don't eat there anymore.

Anonymous said...

Love dat chicken from Popeyes!! Hands down, the best there is! 4 piece spicy for life!

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