In what looks like another sign of the restaurant industry’s deep slump, seven Popeyes fried chicken outlets on the South Side suddenly closed within the past week. Popeyes is working with the franchisee who owns the seven outlets, trying to get them re-opened, said Alicia Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Atlanta-based firm that owns Popeyes. She called the closings “temporary.”
The seven restaurants are owned by Georgia-based THG Restaurant Group. Company officials there didn’t return calls. Thompson declined to elaborate on why the South Side Popeyes outlets shut down.
The restaurant industry has been hard hit by the recession, as cash-strapped consumers shift more toward eating at home. But for the most part, fast-food outlets, with their cheaper fare, have weathered the storm. Thompson said that’s generally been the case for Popeyes, too. “We are holding our own.”