The fried chicken fast-food sector has faced fierce competition since Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen launched the chicken sandwich wars in August 2019.
That’s when Popeyes chicken sandwich customers would wait in long lines to order a sandwich, with some being disappointed to read signs declaring that their precious sandwiches were all sold out.
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Today, fried chicken fans can drive past any Chick-fil-A or Raising Cane’s drive-thru lane and witness the enormous car lines of diners waiting to pick up their orders.
Not every fast-food chicken chain is experiencing huge lines, though. The former king of chicken, KFC has fallen in the rankings of fried chicken fast-food chains, as it’s been quite a while since the Colonel’s restaurant has had a popular item attracting long lines.
Maybe the KFC Double Down sandwich, which featured two pieces of chicken instead of bread with bacon and cheese, caused a short-lived stir when it was introduced in 2010, but it’s not on the menu anymore.
KFC, the No. 3 chicken chain in sales, has fallen behind the industry’s top chicken chain, Chick-fil-A, and No. 2 Popeyes, with Raising Cane’s breathing down its neck at No. 4, according to QSR Magazine’s 2023 sales rankings.
It hasn’t been all good news for the fried chicken chain sector, though. Franchises have battled economic issues over the last two years caused by lingering effects from the Covid-19 pandemic, rising food and labor costs driven by inflation, and intense competition.
In some cases, franchisees have closed restaurants and filed for bankruptcy to address their financial distress.
Franchisee files for bankruptcy
A franchisee of giant fried chicken chain Popeyes, RRG Inc., which operated 17 locations in Georgia, filed for Chapter 11 protection in February 2024 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Georgia, blaming three underperforming locations that it planned to close for causing the company’s distress.
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The fried chicken fast-food sector has also been challenging for Sticky’s Holdings, the parent company of New York-based chicken fingers fast-food chain Sticky’s.
The fried-chicken dining chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 25, 2024, to reorganize its business after suffering financial distress from reduced store traffic following the Covid pandemic, rising commodity prices, and lawsuits.
At the time of the bankruptcy filing, Sticky’s had 12 locations with nine in New York and three in New Jersey. The chain has since closed two locations in New York.
Sticky’s at one time had as many as 16 locations, but it previously closed two locations in New York, one in New Jersey, and one in Pennsylvania. The company also established a franchise entity hoping to expand into franchising, but no franchises ever opened.
EYM Chicken, a KFC franchisee, in August 2024 closed 25 of its 47 fried chicken franchises in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. EYM Chicken did not file for bankruptcy, however.
Popeyes franchises in California have closed.
Image source: Shutterstock
Popeyes franchises close
More recently, another Popeyes franchisee, QSR Management, had some troubled restaurants and closed two locations in California, the Fresno Bee reported.
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The franchisee shut down its location at First Street and McKinley Avenue in Fresno in recent weeks. A sign on the door stated, “Sorry, we are closed,” and the restaurant’s cash registers, menu signs, seats, and most of the equipment had been removed from the restaurant.
The Popeyes website no longer lists the location, and a real estate company’s “available” leasing sign is posted on the building, the report said.
The restaurant location was reportedly listed as “temporarily closed” on the Popeyes website for several weeks but is now permanently closed.
QSR Management closed another of its franchise locations in San Diego before the Fresno closing.
Related: Popular breakfast chain franchise files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
