Popeyes to hold grand opening for newest Dayton-area restaurant

Popeyes Louisiana Chicken is opening its newest restaurant at 6242 Wilmington Pike near Miami Valley Hospital South in Sugarcreek Twp. on Tuesday, Sept. 5. NATALIE JONES/STAFF

Credit: Natalie Jones

Credit: Natalie Jones

Popeyes Louisiana Chicken is opening its newest restaurant at 6242 Wilmington Pike near Miami Valley Hospital South in Sugarcreek Twp. on Tuesday, Sept. 5. NATALIE JONES/STAFF

Gilligan Company is celebrating its newest Popeyes restaurant at 6242 Wilmington Pike near Miami Valley Hospital South in Sugarcreek Twp. with a grand opening and ribbon cutting on Monday, Sept. 18 at 11 a.m.

“We have a great crew. They’ve been working hard getting ready for this,” said general manager Michael Ferryman. “They’re excited to see everybody.”

Popeyes Louisiana Chicken is opening its newest restaurant at 6242 Wilmington Pike near Miami Valley Hospital South in Sugarcreek Twp. on Tuesday, Sept. 5. NATALIE JONES/STAFF

Credit: Natalie Jones

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Credit: Natalie Jones

The 2,400-square-foot space seats over 30 people. The site was previously home to an Applebee’s restaurant.

The restaurant is part of an expansion effort to build as many as five new stores per year in the Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus markets. The Gilligan Company opened a new restaurant at 5798 N. Springboro Pike in Miami Twp. in March 2022 and another at 6793 Miller Lane in the Vandalia/Butler Twp. area in June 2022.

The Sugarcreek Twp. location features a new prototype with updated lobby décor, a newly designed kitchen and double drive-thru.

Founded in 1972, Popeyes Louisiana Chicken has more than 2,700 locations in the United States and worldwide. Popeyes 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.

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. Over the past five years, he has opened new restaurants in locations such as Englewood, Kettering and Springboro.

This is Gilligan Company’s 40th Popeyes location. The franchise has plans to open additional Popeyes restaurant locations in Huber Heights and Xenia.

During the grand opening celebration, Gilligan Company will present a check to the Sugarcreek Veterans Memorial.

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