A 17-unit Popeyes franchisee in Georgia declared bankruptcy in late January after dealing with multiple underperforming locations.
RRG, Inc., solely owned by Mark and Jane Rinna, has roughly three restaurants that have “significantly lost money” and caused a burden on continued operations for the rest of the stores. The company fell behind on lease payments of its remaining profitable units and needs to fulfill those obligations to avoid lease termination. RRG is continuing to operate the business during court proceedings while closing the three unprofitable locations.
The company owes lease rent to several entities, including one for $238,595. RRG also owes $120,086 in credit card debt to American Express and at least $68,000 in property taxes.
RRG is the latest RBI franchisee to enter bankruptcy within the past year. Burger King operators Premier Kings, Meridian Restaurants Unlimited, and TOMS King all entered court proceedings in 2023. Fellow Popeyes franchisee Cajun Kings went bankrupt in March 2023.
Popeyes U.S. saw same-store sales grow 5.8 percent and net unit growth increase 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter. That resulted in 11.2 percent systemwide sales growth and a record digital sales mix of 25 percent, up from under 20 percent in 2022. The chain aired its first Super Bowl commercial this past Sunday, which highlighted its new wings platform. Inside restaurants, Popeyes is in the early stages of implementing easy-to-run kitchens consisting of new equipment, updated layouts, technology upgrades, and process simplification. The fast-food giant is moving from initial pilots to bigger test clusters.
The company’s long-term goal is to increase franchisee profitability to $300,000 per unit by 2025. Last year, it reached $245,000, a 17 percent jump year-over-year.
Popeyes had 3,051 U.S. restaurants at the end of December. It experienced the best net unit growth of any RBI chain in 2023.
The rash of bankruptcies isn’t unique to RBI. Wendy’s, Denny’s, and Hardee’s all had sizable franchisees enter bankruptcy protection last year.
