Naseer Malik has been working with Popeyes since 2008 and he says he still craves Popeyes.
"The key is having tasty wonderful food," he said.
"If you don't have a strong product, it doesn't matter how beautiful your restaurant is, people will come one time to visit the new restaurant but if your food is not strong and the menu not versatile, people will not come back."
Naseer Malik, senior vice president of AA group of companies, was one of a number of Popeyes Chicken officials who attended the grand opening for the North Bay restaurant which opened officially on September 28 on Lakeshore Drive near the North Bay Mall.
"Currently we have 50 restaurants that we operate and own," said Malik.
See related: Popeyes chicken opening up before the end of September
Malik says COVID-19 hampered their ability to open a North Bay location earlier. They are also looking at opening Popeyes Chicken restaurants in other northern Ontario locations including Sudbury and Timmins.
"We planned to move here four years ago but because of the pandemic we were not able to open," explains Malik.
Malik says prior to the September 28 opening, he felt the excitement for Popeyes around North Bay.
"I was in town a few days before we opened - doing preparations and everything - I had an opportunity to shop around North Bay and I found everyone, because I was in uniform, everyone I met was waiting and excited and they kept asking why it took so long for us to open here," he said.
"When we did open there were long lineups and the guests were very excited. We find this is a very peaceful and loving neighbourhood. We find people are polite and patient waiting in line but everyone had a fun time. The community seems very excited."
Popeyes Chicken got its start in Louisiana in 1972 and eventually expanded to Toronto in 1984.
In 2019, Popeyes Chicken celebrated opening its 200th store in Canada.
