News: Popeyes opens in Rotherham

American fried chicken restaurant Popeyes UK opened the doors to its first ever Drive-Thru restaurant, with over 50 cars queuing in Rotherham.

The Drive-Thru officially opened at 11am on Monday 15th May at Parkgate Shopping Park, with the launch seeing customers queue the length of 2 football pitches throughout the retail park for its famous Chicken Sandwiches.

The first few lucky customers through the door on day one, won the ultimate prize of free Chicken Sandwiches for a whole year, and the first 25 vehicles within the drive-thru lane and the first 25 pedestrians in the eat-in queue were rewarded with a free Chicken Sandwich and exclusive car-themed Popeyes UK merchandise.

Elizabeth and Victoria Adeosun, mother and daughter local to Rotherham, were the first through the drive-thru and Jamie Poon the first pedestrian through the doors of the new restaurant, bagging themselves free Chicken Sandwiches for a year after queuing from 4am this morning.

Victoria, the winner of free Chicken Sandwiches for a year, said: “I have been to both the Leicester and London Popeyes restaurants, so when I heard that Popeyes was opening near home, I had to be one of the first in the queue, so I made my mum [Elizabeth] get up and come to the opening.”

Advertisement
Jamie Poon, winner of free Chicken Sandwiches for a year, added: “I found out about the competition a few months ago on Twitter and I have been keeping an eye on updates of the Rotherham opening ever since. I arrived at 4am and I can’t wait to try my first ever Popeyes Chicken Sandwich.”

Recommended reading: Should More Rotherham Businesses Try Freebie Promotions? Mardi Gras style band, the Brass Funkeys, who have performed at Glastonbury and Ronnie Scott's, provided a New Orleans party vibe as the doors were opened for the first time, alongside an orange carpet, hundreds of freebies and limited-edition car-themed merchandise handed out to those attending the official launch.

Not only that, to celebrate the launch of its new breakfast menu, Popeyes UK will also be offering free breakfast muffins to the first 25 cars in the queue at the new drive-thru tomorrow. to celebrate its first breakfast service. Breakfast will start at 8am, with food including the mouth-watering big breakfast roll, cajun hash browns and indulgent nutella-topped buttermilk biscuits.

Neil Williamson, Chief Operating Officer at Popeyes UK said: “We’ve seen some great excitement for the Rotherham launch with fans queuing up from 4am for our Chicken Sandwich. We can’t wait to see the buzz continue to grow and for more people to try the Popeyes ‘shatter crunch’ for themselves. We will also be launching the breakfast menu at the Rotherham drive-thru and we’re looking forward to seeing how this is received as the breakfast offering becomes a staple at more of our restaurants across the UK.”

Popeyes UK website

Images: Popeyes UK

Read more...

News: When is the new Popeye's in Rotherham opening?

Next month, Rotherham will welcome the first-ever drive-thru restaurant from American fried chicken restaurant, Popeyes UK.

Rothbiz has reported that, continuing its rapid growth across the British Isles, Popeyes UK has included Rotherham in its next clutch of sites – with five new restaurants across the country launching imminently.

Founded in New Orleans in 1972, Popeyes distinguishes itself with a unique New Orleans style menu featuring spicy chicken, chicken tenders and other regional items. It now has over 4,000 restaurants in the U.S. and around the world.

Expect some Southern hospitality when the Rotherham restaurant at Parkgate is set to officially open its doors to the public on Monday May 15.

As part of the launch, a competition sees entrants given the opportunity to win a VIP experience and be the first ever person to go through the new drive-thru.

Previous Popeyes UK restaurant launches have seen round the block queues, with diners all over the country having previously queued from as early as 10pm the night before.

Advertisement
Tom Crowley, CEO at Popeyes® UK, said: “We’re hugely excited to be opening our first Drive-Thru in the UK. This is a critical format for us as we fully recognise the UK is underserved with exciting new brands opening in this space. The sustained demand we are seeing for Popeyes throughout the UK is incredible, we are confident that this will only increase with the launch of our Drive-Thru restaurants of which we now have many in the pipeline for 2023 and into 2024."

Popeyes UK recently confirmed that, for the Rotherham drive-thru site, it was the landlord's decision to replace KFC with a Popeyes restaurant.

Recommended reading: Will South Yorkshire’s Junk Food Advertising Ban Be Worth It?

Work is currently underway after planning permission was secured for new signage and the reconfiguration of the car park and drive-thru lane to create dual ordering lane, designed to "enhance the function of the drive thru lane in order to reduce the potential for queuing vehicles to obstruct the customer car park."

Recruitment at the new outlet continues.

Popeye's Rotherham website

Images: Popeye's UK

Read more...

News: Why is Popeyes taking over from KFC at Parkgate?

Work is well underway on changing KFC to a new Popeyes outlet in Rotherham.

Rothbiz has reported that, continuing its rapid growth across the British Isles, Popeyes UK has included Rotherham in its next clutch of sites – with five new restaurants across the country launching imminently.

Founded in New Orleans in 1972, Popeyes distinguishes itself with a unique New Orleans style menu featuring spicy chicken, chicken tenders and other regional items. It now has over 3,700 restaurants in the U.S. and around the world.

Rotherham will mark the brand’s first foray into drive-thru restaurants in the UK, following significant success with its in-line locations and delivery dark kitchens.

Work is underway at Parkgate after planning permission was secured for the reconfiguration of the car park and drive-thru lane to create dual ordering lane, designed to "enhance the function of the drive thru lane in order to reduce the potential for queuing vehicles to obstruct the customer car park."

Advertisement
A new planning application has recently been submitted for distinctive orange signange.

Popeyes UK has confirmed that, for the Rotherham drive-thru site, it was the landlord's decision to replace KFC with a Popeyes restaurant. This echoes the chain's debut at Stratford which saw Popeyes replace KFC in a move the newer brand dubbed "Chicken Wars."

Tom Crowley, CEO at Popeyes UK, said: “The sustained demand we’re seeing for Popeyes in the UK is incredible, but not unexpected – Popeyes is a cult brand with a huge following in the US and has supplied food for everything from celebrity weddings to the Met Gala.

“That said, it’s still brilliant to see how enthusiastically the UK has welcomed us, and we’re particularly proud to be opening our first drive-thru locations this year. Now that we’ve established a growing presence here, we’re excited to start turning our attention towards building an industry-leading employee value proposition for our UK teams and identifying where we can make a difference in the communities we’re part of.

“That’s always been the Popeyes way.”

Popeyes UK website

Images: Popeyes UK

Read more...

News: Where is Popeye's going to go at Parkgate?

American multinational chain, Popeye's is coming to Parkgate at Rotherham and plans have been submitted showing where the growing restaurant chain is planning to go, taking over an established food unit.

Founded in New Orleans in 1972, Popeyes distinguishes itself with a unique New Orleans style menu featuring spicy chicken, chicken tenders and other regional items. It now has over 3,700 restaurants in the U.S. and around the world.

Rothbiz reported last month that, as part of building its presence across the UK, a Poepeye's site was due to launch in early 2023 in Rotherham at Parkgate Shopping. It is likely to be one of the chain's first drive-thru locations.

A planning application shows that Popeye's is taking on the current KFC outlet at Parkgate Shopping Park that is now listed as closed.

The plans are for a minor reconfiguration of car park and drive-thru lane to create dual ordering lane, designed to "enhance the function of the drive thru lane in order to reduce the potential for queuing vehicles to obstruct the customer car park."

Advertisement
Plans, drawn up by FirstPlan, state: "At present, the existing drive-thru lane is very short, just circa 10m in length between the ordering point and collection window (circa two vehicles). In addition, the ordering point is currently located at the entrance to the drive-thru lane so an ordering vehicle will partially block the car park circulation and the first waiting vehicle will wait within the car park circulation. The proposed alterations and reconfiguration of the existing drive-thru lane have been designed to improve the operation of the drive-thru lane and reduce impacts on the car parking in relation to adjacent retail and commercial units."

The plans would result in a reduction of 25 existing car parking spaces near the unit but their will be the addition of two blue badge parking spaces, therefore totalling a net reduction of 23 parking spaces.

Plans conclude: "The proposals will secure the reoccupation of the restaurant unit and deliver clear economic and social benefits, which is supported by planning policy at all levels. As such, the provision of an enhanced drive-thru lane in association with Popeyes’ occupation of the restaurant will enhance the viability and vitality of the unit.

"The proposed development is situated in an out-of-town location however, due to the established restaurant use and the minor scale of the proposals, this proposal will not impact on the vitality and viability of Rotherham town centre.

"Occupation of this unit by Popeyes and provision of an enhanced drive-thru facility will expand the food offering and increase the desirability of the surrounding area and attract additional customer footfall."

In 2021, Popeyes announced its plans to open 350 restaurants in the UK over the next ten years. Overall, Popeyes UK is expected to open 20 restaurants in 2023, which brings the total number of UK restaurants to 31 by the end of 2023.

Popeyes UK website

Images: Popeyes / Google Maps

Read more...

News: American multinational chain eyes Rotherham for new location

A growing restaurant chain is hoping to open in Rotherham at the start of next year when locals will be able to experience "Famous Louisiana Chicken."

Popeyes UK is building its presence across the UK, with sites due to launch in early 2023 in Rotherham, Cardiff and Glasgow. Elsewhere, the brand is gearing up to open Reading and Croydon, as well as Cambridge, following the runaway success of its Oxford restaurant.

The record-breaking Oxford opening day saw hungry customers forming a queue around the block from 5am, and people arriving at the restaurant to join it straight from their nights out.

Popeyes UK’s first foray into the Midlands in October saw similar success levels, with its Nottingham opening breaking the records that Oxford previously set and, over in Derby, customers queuing from 10:30pm the night before launch.

Founded in New Orleans in 1972, Popeyes distinguishes itself with a unique New Orleans style menu featuring spicy chicken, chicken tenders and other regional items. It now has over 3,700 restaurants in the U.S. and around the world.

Advertisement
Tom Crowley, CEO at Popeyes UK, commented: “There is a pattern emerging now at all our openings with people queuing through the night to be the first in line on opening day. It’s fantastic to see how well we are being received right across the UK.

“As well as the new high street restaurants and delivery kitchens, we’re also very excited to announce that in 2023, we’ll be opening a raft of drive-thru locations, with the first likely to be in Rotherham at Parkgate Shopping Park. Consumer demand has been high for a drive-thru ever since we landed in the UK, so it feels like a real milestone for us.

“We’ve carefully planned our site acquisition strategy in line with where we’re seeing most demand from our customers, and it’s great to see it coming to life. We’re working at pace currently on opening our Liverpool, Brighton and Leicester branches before the end of the year – but we always have one eye on the future and are looking forward to continuing sharing our expansion plans.”

In 2021, Popeyes announced its plans to open 350 restaurants in the UK over the next ten years. Overall, Popeyes UK is expected to open 20 restaurants in 2023, which brings the total number of UK restaurants to 31 by the end of 2023. The UK represents the 11th new market for Popeyes across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where the chain has already opened hundreds of new sites as part of its global expansion.

Since launching in November 2021, Popeyes UK has opened seven restaurants across the breadth of the country and four delivery kitchens in Greater London. It recently announced that it is due to open a further six, and is expected to have created a further 1,000 careers in the hospitality and construction sectors before the end of 2022.

In 2017, Restaurant Brands International (RBI) announced a deal to buy Popeyes for US$1.8 billion. RBI is a Canadian-American multinational fast food holding company which has other subsidiary brands including Burger King and Tim Horton's. Ring International Holding AG (RIH) acquired the master franchise rights for Popeyes United Kingdom last year.

Popeyes UK website

Images: Popeyes

Read more...