Popeye's thread #3; can someone tell the full behind-the-scenes AC story?

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he's dead? i honestly cant remember.

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he's dead, Jim

He's dead. For you, that means he is no longer living. He is dead, dead, dead!!!

Has been for several years.

He's dead

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i still see his cigar boats & lambos off I10.

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You still see lambos in there? Where are you looking

AJC sold off most of the boats and Lambos.

His house at the end of Transconntinental has been torn down.

He lost Popeyes, because he wanted to acquire Church's, so he took a loan against Popeye's for capital. Something happened and the bank called the loan and he lost out on Church's and had to sell off Popeye's but he retained the seasoning trademarks through Diversified Spices.
(until sold to Popeyes three months ago for $40M)

He wrecked a cigar boat and was badly injured and his insurance made it impractical to race.

His family still owns Copeland's, though the chain has died out a lot from it's 2001 peak.

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In March 1989, Popeyes, then the third-largest chicken chain, purchased Church's Chicken, the second largest.[9] The parent company, Al Copeland Enterprises, operated the two chains separately. Combined, the company had over 2,000 locations.[10] Criticism of the merger included the resulting presence of competing locations. Efforts were made to close underperforming stores and sell franchises; however, operational improvements could not overcome financial burdens resulting from the merger.[citation needed]

The Church's purchase was heavily financed with the security being the assets of Popeyes and the acquired company.[10] In 1990, Al Copeland Enterprises had $391 million in debts. The debt reached more than $400 million by April 1991 when Copeland filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the company.[10] Creditors had petitioned for involuntary bankruptcy and efforts to have the petition dismissed had failed.[10] In October 1992, the bankruptcy court approved a plan submitted by a group of Copeland's creditors that created America's Favorite Chicken Company, Inc. (aka AFC) AFC served as the new parent company for Popeyes and Church's.

Although Copeland lost Popeyes in the bankruptcy, he retained the rights to some Popeyes recipes and products.[1] He manufactured the spices through his Diversified Foods & Seasonings plants located in Metairie, Madisonville, New Orleans, Mobile, San Antonio and Nebraska City. [1]

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The Church's purchase was heavily financed with the security being the assets of Popeyes and the acquired company.[10] In 1990, Al Copeland Enterprises had $391 million in debts. The debt reached more than $400 million by April 1991 when Copeland filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the company.[10] Creditors had petitioned for involuntary bankruptcy and efforts to have the petition dismissed had failed.[10] In October 1992, the bankruptcy court approved a plan submitted by a group of Copeland's creditors that created America's Favorite Chicken Company, Inc. (aka AFC) AFC served as the new parent company for Popeyes and Church's. Although Copeland lost Popeyes in the bankruptcy, he retained the rights to some Popeyes recipes and products.[1] He manufactured the spices through his Diversified Foods & Seasonings plants located in Metairie, Madisonville, New Orleans, Mobile, San Antonio and Nebraska City. [1]

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This....










and he still dead, Cad-iquia

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This is quite an understatement.
I took my little guy to the one on Clearview last week and it was not a great experience.
I wouldn't be suprised if the two Metairie locations close soon. I know that Cheesecake Bistro on Veterans is done.

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The one in Kenner is okay, and Bistro was done as soon as Cheesecake Factory announced they were coming to town.

so far no good stories.

i was hoping for some good gossip like al & edwin edwards in a 3some with marsianne goldsby or something

His funeral at Holy Name of Jesus was quite a circus....a helicopter flew over the site and dropped rose petals. I kept a few of them, it was over the top.

He actually killed a guy in the boating accident.

And early on, you used to find Popeye's next to Tastee Donuts all over town because his brother(?) owned the Tastee chain.

I think he personally owned the Super Popeye's on Veterans.

He bought the rights to the Popeye's cartoon character image for a song, but the chain was actually named after Popeye Doyle, the character in the movie, "The French Connection". I always thought Popeye's should have had a spinach dish on the menu - it would have been a natural.

According to family, the last protien Al Copeland ate was Popeye's Fried Chicken cooked in his hospital room especially for him.

Popeye's used to sell chicken tacos.

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Only really good gossip I can think of regarding AC was when the Guidry klan kicked his arse inside of Morton's steakhouse one night.

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