The new restaurant opened to the public on Wednesday, Jan. 2, according to franchise owner Pat Gilligan.
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The restaurant was doing a brisk business today, Jan. 4, over the noon lunch hour. “We’re cranking,” Gilligan said.
***UPDATED Dec. 19, 2018***
The Dayton area's newest Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen now has a target opening date in Kettering.
Pat Gilligan, the franchise owner of Dayton and southwest Ohio’s Popeyes restaurants, told this news outlet today, Dec. 19 that his newest location at 4025 Wilmington Pike just south of East Stroop Road will open fully to the public on Jan. 2.
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The 3,200-square-foot restaurant is located on on a tract of land that previously housed a former PNC Bank branch in front of the Kettering Meijer store. The bank branch was demolished to make way for the restaurant.
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The Kettering restaurant will be the fifth Popeyes in the Dayton-Springfield area for the Atlanta-based chain, joining locations in Harrison Twp., Springfield, Englewood and Springboro. The Springboro location opened in January 2018.
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The Popeyes chain known for its fried chicken and Cajun-style side dishes was once a Dayton-area mainstay. Popeyes had multiple locations in the region in the early 1980s, but those closed, and the region went without a Popeyes for several years. When the Popeyes at 3796 Salem Ave. in Harrison Twp. opened in 2001, fans flocked to the restaurant for several days, causing waits of up to an hour.
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Gilligan purchased the Harrison Twp. and Springfield Popeyes locations in January 2016 and has owned Cincinnati-area Popeyes since 2006.
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Competition is growing more intense in the Dayton-area’s chicken-restaurant market. Raising Cane’s entered the Dayton-area region with its restaurant on Miamisburg-Centerville Road in Washington Twp. east of the Dayton Mall last year, and another across from The Greene Town Center in Beavercreek earlier this fall.
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Chick-fil-A opened two new Dayton-area restaurants — in Kettering and Troy — on the same day in January 2017. Krispy Krunchy Chicken added a Bellbrook location late last year, and KFC is adding a location on Wilmington Pike near the Sugarcreek Plaza.
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Gilligan purchased the Harrison Twp. and Springfield Popeyes locations in January 2016 and has owned Cincinnati-area Popeyes since 2006.
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