Popeyes plots $3.5M menu, ad overhaul to halt skimp

Nation's Restaurant News,  March 24, 2008  

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ATLANTA -- Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits will invest $3.5 million this year in new menu and marketing initiatives intended to boost traffic to the 1,905-unit chain, which posted a same-store sales drop of 2.3 percent for 2007.

Cheryl Bachelder, chief executive of the brand's parent company, AFC Enterprises Inc., outlined a plan to focus not only on the chain's core bone-in chicken offerings but also to develop snack items, lunch offerings, "lighter alternatives" and "everyday value" options.

The initiatives were disclosed as Popeyes adjusts to the departure of its longtime director of culinary development, chef Billy Jacob, who resigned to join a Five Guys Burgers and Fries franchisee in Louisiana.

Popeyes also plans to restructure its field operations, develop a new customer service monitoring system and identify cost savings to help improve restaurant-level margins. AFC also said it would start to sell an unspecified number of its 65 corporate restaurants to franchisees.

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