2 Popeyes locations to replace Tim Hortons that closed in 2019

The new Popeyes will open in December, according to Julea Schuh, a spokeswoman for Popeyes’ franchisee Gilligan Company. They will employ 30 to 35 people each.

“The two stores are Popeyes new prototype buildings with updated lobby décor, a newly designed kitchen and double drive-thru to serve our guests,” Schuh told this news outlet Monday afternoon.

Popeyes, known for its fried chicken and Cajun-style side dishes, was once a Dayton-area mainstay. It had multiple locations in the region in the early 1980s, but those closed, and the region went without a Popeyes for several years. When the Popeyes at 3796 Salem Ave. in Harrison Twp. opened in 2001, fans flocked to the restaurant for several days, causing waits of up to an hour.

Gilligan Company’s Pat Gilligan, the franchise owner-operator for Popeyes’ southwest Ohio locations, has owned Cincinnati-area Popeyes since 2006. He led the chain’s Miami Valley resurgence, acquiring the Harrison Twp. and Springfield Popeyes locations in 2016, then opening six new restaurants in the past five years, including locations in Englewood, Kettering and Springboro.

Gilligan has plans to open four to five new stores per year for the next four to five years in the Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus markets, Schuh said.

Founded in 1972, Popeyes is one of the world’s largest chicken quick service restaurants, with more than 2,700 locations in the United States and worldwide.