To see what the future looks like, check out the “re-imaged” Popeyes in another hyper-gentrified D.C. neighborhood, Barracks Row. On a warm Thursday evening, it’s bustling. Peeling New Orleans-themed wallpaper has given way to clean mustard yellow and brick red, hung with canvases painted with slogans about shrimp and sweet tea. Shrimp-shack wood paneling, faux granite benches, colorful tiles, and a wrought iron sign give the interior a plasticky hint of Big Easy grace. There’s even a rack with jars full of what one presumes are spices that could, theoretically, be used in food. (The menu is the same, as is the Bayou jazz track that plays on a loop overhead).
The 60 percent of Popeyes locations that have remodeled are doing markedly higher sales. The franchise is now growing faster than any other chicken brand, expanding its footprint from urban centers in the Southeast to suburbs all over the country.
The repositioning is a gift for the franchisees who’ve stuck with the brand for decades — and a textbook case for taking a brand that meant one thing and turning it into another.
