Popeyes® Chicken & Biscuits, a division of AFC Enterprises,
Inc. (Nasdaq: AFCE) has reached
an agreement with Clifford Fort Myers, LLC to develop 10 new locations in the Fort Myers, Fla. area
by November 2007. The addition of the Clifford Fort Myers development agreement boosts
Popeyes’ total commitments signed this year to 164.
“We are pleased to start our partnership with Clifford Fort Myers to develop restaurants in the Fort
Myers area,” said Marge Barnette, vice president of New Business Development for Popeyes.
“The Fort Myers area is growing, and Popeyes is excited to be part of that growth. Our partnership
with Clifford Fort Myers will allow us to offer our food to even more flavor seekers in Florida.”
Currently, there are 102 Popeyes restaurants in Florida. Clifford Fort Myers plans to develop their
10 restaurants in Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Henry and Lee counties—all part of the Fort Myers
DMA. The first of these is slated to open in the first quarter of 2002 in Lee County. Clifford Fort
Myers, LLC, is a subsidiary of Sala Clearwater, LLC, a multi-unit operator of Burger King
restaurants in the Tampa, FL area.
“We are very pleased and excited about our new partnership with Popeyes and look forward to
rapidly developing these new restaurants,” said Mike Webster, manager of Sala Clearwater.
“Combining Popeyes’ strong menu with our company’s historical commitment to friendliness,
speed of service and delivery of hot, fresh products will provide our customers with a value
proposition unique to the quick service restaurant industry in Southwest Florida.”
Popeyes is a leader in the Cajun segment of the foodservice industry and is the world’s
second-largest quick-service chicken concept. Founded in 1972, Popeyes has over 1,504
locations in 41 states, the District of Columbia and 20 countries and achieved 2000 worldwide
sales of approximately $1.2 billion. Visit Popeyes’ website at www.popeyes.com .