JUST IN: Popeyes opens 4th Dayton-area restaurant; 5th on the way

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

What to Know
By Mark Fisher
Jan 17, 2018
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The Dayton area's newest Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen has opened its doors, and another is coming later this year as the region's fried-chicken restaurant competition continues to intensify.

Popeyes opened its Springboro location at 829 W. Central Ave. on Tuesday, franchise owner Pat Gilligan told this news outlet. The restaurant near the I-75/Ohio 73 interchange has been in the works for several months, but opened with little fanfare and is not yet listed on the Popeyes chain’s web site. The 2,600-square-foot restaurant seats about 50 and created 25 to 30 jobs, Gilligan said.

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The Springoboro restaurant is the fourth Popeyes in the Dayton-Springfield area for the Atlanta-based chain, joining locations in Harrison Twp., Springfield and Englewood.

RELATED: Popeyes confirms new Kettering restaurant

Another Popeyes is in the works in Kettering — at the site of a former PNC Bank branch on Wilmington Pike in front of a Meijer store. Construction of that restaurant is expected to begin this spring, Gilligan said. The Dayton-area expansion of the brand’s footprint is expected to continue, the franchise owner said.

RELATED: Burger King buys Popeyes, which is expanding in SW Ohio

The chain known for its fried chicken and Cajun-style side dishes was once a Dayton-area mainstay. Popeyes 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.

RELATED: HOT CHICKEN: Competition intensifies with new-restaurant openings

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen has opened restaurant in Springboro on Tuesday, Jan. 16. Photo from Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Facebook page

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Gilligan purchased the Harrison Twp. and Springfield Popeyes locations in January 2016 and has owned Cincinnati-area Popeyes since 2006.

RELATED: Popeyes Chicken to open 4 more Dayton-area restaurants

Competition is growing more intense in the chicken-restaurant market. Raising Cane’s entered the Dayton-area region with its restaurant on Miamisburg-Centerville Road in Washington Twp. east of the Dayton Mall last year. Chick-fil-A opened two new Dayton-area restaurants — in Kettering and Troy — on the same day in January 2017. Mike’s Nashville Hot opened new restaurants on Far Hills Avenue in Centerville and in Austin Landing in Miami Twp., and Krispy Krunchy Chicken added a Bellbrook location late last year.

RELATED: Opening day today for the Dayton area’s 1st Raising Cane’s restaurant

The region also is stocked with KFC, Lee’s Famous Recipe and Church’s chicken restaurants, as well as multiple wing-themed restaurants, including WingStop, which entered the Dayton-area market for the first time about two months ago at Ohio 725 and I-675.

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About the Author

Mark Fisher, a 1981 graduate of Ohio State University and a 1976 graduate of Beavercreek High School, is a third-generation Dayton-area resident who has worked for the Dayton Daily News since 1983. He covered higher education and K-12 education accountability issues for nearly 20 years before taking over the food and dining beat in 2006.