Popeye's 2007 Annual Report Download - page 8

6 AFC ENTERPRISES, INC.
Strengthening our
unit economics
Popeyes franchise owners are the foundation upon
which we will accelerate growth of the Popeyes brand.
They are our respected and valued business partners,
as we are theirs. Our focus now is on making our
franchise owners more profitable—helping them
increase their sales and sustain and enhance
their bottom line so that they can earn compelling
financial returns.
With that in mind, we are working closely with
franchise owners to identify and secure cost
savings and best practices to improve food, labor
and overhead efficiencies in the restaurants. We
are developing a system to track key profitability
measures to help franchise owners compare the
performance of their restaurants across a number
of criteria to help quantify and analyze opportunities
for improvement.
We are investing in additional analytical personnel
to provide better business analysis for marketing,
operations and development decision-making.
Improving the value proposition for Popeyes franchise
owners better positions the Popeyes system to grow
restaurants more rapidly in the years to come.
Lal Sultanzada
2007 Popeyes Franchisee of the Year
Owns and operates restaurants in New York
and Philadelphia
Growing from a solid base
In 2007, we opened 124 restaurants bringing our
total global restaurant count to 1,905. Today, the
Popeyes system is comprised of more than 1,580
restaurants domestically and approximately 320
restaurants located in 24 countries and two territories
worldwide. Given the strong acceptance of the unique
flavor profiles of our products both domestically and
abroad, the Popeyes brand has substantial
unit growth potential ahead and we believe that
over time, the Popeyes system can more than
double unit growth domestically and expand
significantly internationally.
Our expansion into Turkey in 2007 is a perfect
example of Popeyes international growth potential.
In the spring, we signed a franchise development
agreement with a solid restaurant operator and
developer who opened nine restaurants during
fiscal 2007 and has an aggressive growth plan for
2008 as well. Their success in importing Popeyes to
yet another international market and the performance
of those restaurants to date illustrates the broad
appeal of the Popeyes flavor profile and the many
opportunities for continued expansion around
the world.