Burger King Buying Popeyes

Alpha8472
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Burger King Buying Popeyes

Post by Alpha8472 »

Burger King is reportedly in talks to buy Popeyes. The Canadian company already owns Tim Hortons. This merger could create a very interesting combo restaurant.

I really like Popeyes, and I have always wanted to try Tim Hortons. Burger King has gotten quite boring lately, but coffee, donuts, and fried chicken would really be something to bring in the customers.
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Re: Burger King Buying Popeyes

Post by pseudo3d »

Since BK and Tim Hortons merged, I haven't seen any brand crossover, at least not in the States. Maybe it could be due to lingering Wendy's/Tim Hortons combos (do any of those exist in America? Anymore? If at all?)

The more plausible scenario I can see happening is less combo restaurants and more swapping out brands if one doesn't work.
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Re: Burger King Buying Popeyes

Post by wnetmacman »

pseudo3d wrote:Since BK and Tim Hortons merged, I haven't seen any brand crossover, at least not in the States. Maybe it could be due to lingering Wendy's/Tim Hortons combos (do any of those exist in America? Anymore? If at all?)

The more plausible scenario I can see happening is less combo restaurants and more swapping out brands if one doesn't work.
Combo restaurants are very difficult to maintain, as staff has to be trained in two different modes of operation, like with Yum Brands. To run a KFC and a Taco Bell requires two full sets of equipment, which the average BK may have some room for, but not enough to pull off a Popeyes inside. And where I live in Louisiana, Popeye's is on the opposite corner of every BK, so we wouldn't see much of that here.
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Re: Burger King Buying Popeyes

Post by pseudo3d »

wnetmacman wrote:
pseudo3d wrote:Since BK and Tim Hortons merged, I haven't seen any brand crossover, at least not in the States. Maybe it could be due to lingering Wendy's/Tim Hortons combos (do any of those exist in America? Anymore? If at all?)

The more plausible scenario I can see happening is less combo restaurants and more swapping out brands if one doesn't work.
Combo restaurants are very difficult to maintain, as staff has to be trained in two different modes of operation, like with Yum Brands. To run a KFC and a Taco Bell requires two full sets of equipment, which the average BK may have some room for, but not enough to pull off a Popeyes inside. And where I live in Louisiana, Popeye's is on the opposite corner of every BK, so we wouldn't see much of that here.
Yeah, I've noticed a few of the Taco Bell/KFC restaurants have reverted to being single restaurant operations.
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Re: Burger King Buying Popeyes

Post by jamcool »

Popeye's and Church's are both owned by the same company (AFC)....does that mean the King is buying Church's also?
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Re: Burger King Buying Popeyes

Post by pseudo3d »

jamcool wrote:Popeye's and Church's are both owned by the same company (AFC)....does that mean the King is buying Church's also?
AFC divested Church's Chicken to Crescent Capital (now Arcapita) in 2004.
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Re: Burger King Buying Popeyes

Post by BillyGr »

One thing that rarely seems to occur with the combination stores is allowing a complete combination of the brands.

For instance (with this case) setting it up such that they could offer a BK item (like, say the Whopper) with a choice of side items (not just the fries or onion rings, but also something from the Popeye's brand like rice or mashed potatoes).

That might help them against a chain like Wendy's, which added many options for their combos other than just fries a few years back.

One other thing that could be interesting - would it help the combined chains in places like malls with food courts, being able to bring in a variety of choices under one "deal", rather than having to negotiate with three separate franchisees or companies?
Or even if they didn't want to have all the options in one building, being able to build together on one property (wasn't that kind of what some of the Wendy's/Horton combos were, two separate stores in one building)?
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Re: Burger King Buying Popeyes

Post by wnetmacman »

pseudo3d wrote:Since BK and Tim Hortons merged, I haven't seen any brand crossover, at least not in the States. Maybe it could be due to lingering Wendy's/Tim Hortons combos (do any of those exist in America? Anymore? If at all?)

The more plausible scenario I can see happening is less combo restaurants and more swapping out brands if one doesn't work.
BK and Tim Hortons are not 'merged'. They share common ownership by a company called Restaurant Brands International.
pseudo3d wrote:Yeah, I've noticed a few of the Taco Bell/KFC restaurants have reverted to being single restaurant operations.
I have seen two different ones here, one a Taco Bell/KFC, and another a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut Express, both down to just Taco Bell. The TB/PH was just an equipment removal and sign change. The TB/KFC was a complete remodel. It was also our last KFC for 50 miles around.
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Re: Burger King Buying Popeyes

Post by Brian Lutz »

Taco Bell / Pizza Hut Express locations are basically just a regular Taco Bell with about 4 Pizza Hut menu items (Pepperoni, Cheese or Combo Personal Pan Pizzas and Breadsticks) so those ones probably aren't too big a deal. The combo ones around here seem to be one of a few types: Taco Bell/Pizza Hut Express, KFC/Taco Bell, KFC/Long John Silver's (I'm guessing those probably mostly use the same equipment) and KFC/A&W. It's a lot more common to see standalone KFC and Taco Bell locations close to each other (generally within a block) than to see the combos (although in Everett on Broadway there's a Taco Bell and a combo KFC/LJS across the street from each other.) When the Taco Bell in Bellevue remodeled a couple of years back it kept the Pizza Hut Express on the menu.

Popeye's is still uncommon enough around here that they can attract at least somewhat of a crowd when they open. A new one opened in Everett in December and attracted a fair bit of traffic in its first couple of weeks (nowhere near the craziness when the first Chick-Fil-A locations opened here though.) Burger King has generally been on the decline here though, with a handful of locations closing over the past decade.
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Re: Burger King Buying Popeyes

Post by storewanderer »

Burger King is a puzzle to me but seems to have some kind of a following.

Popeye's is an excellent product, but a poor value given the portion/prices. There seem to be some poorly run locations, too but somehow those spicy tenders and red beans and rice seem to always taste great even if the location was dirty, portioning was questionable, and service was slow. Popeyes has really slaughtered KFC.

Tim Horton's has not done well in the US. In Canada everyone knows them and loves them, but that is not the case in the US. I feel like even though their product is pretty good when fresh, they never really tried to sell people in the US on it. The US locations do not have near the variety of the ones up in Canada and some of the more interesting muffins/cookies sold in Canada are not sold in the US. Sure they have most of the donuts but so do a lot of other places in the US.
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