Bojangles (restaurant)

Bojangles OpCo, LLC., doing business as Bojangles (known as Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits until 2020), is an American regional chain of fast food restaurants that specializes in Cajun-seasoned fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits and primarily serves the Southeastern United States. The company was founded in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1977 by Jack Fulk and Richard Thomas.[3]

Bojangles OpCo, LLC
Bojangles
TypePrivate
IndustryFood
Founded1977 (1977)
FoundersJack Fulk
Richard Thomas
HeadquartersCharlotte, North Carolina, United States
Number of locations
818[1] (2023)
Area served
United States
Key people
ProductsFast food, including fried chicken, biscuits, french fries
RevenueIncrease US$547 million[2] (2021)
OwnerJordan Company
Durational Capital Management
Number of employees
9,900 (2021)
Websitewww.bojangles.com

Bojangles has previously franchised restaurants in Grand Cayman Island, Jamaica, Honduras, Mexico, Ireland and China.[4] As of 2023, restaurants are in 17 U.S. states[5] (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia) with planned expansions into New Jersey.[6] Its home state of North Carolina has the largest number of locations.[7]

In July 2023, the company announced plans to open 20 restaurants on the West coast, starting in Las Vegas.[8]

History
Logo used from 1977 until 2020

The first Bojangles location opened in 1977 in Charlotte. In the following year, the first franchised restaurant began operations.

Jack Fulk sold the Bojangles concept to the now-defunct Horn & Hardart Company of New York[9] in 1981.

Bojangles received fame in 1989 because its restaurants remained open when Hurricane Hugo struck the Carolinas when most other fast-food restaurants had closed.[10]

During Horn and Hardart's ownership, the chain grew rapidly and expanded to 335 restaurants including 100 in Florida. Part of this growth was fueled by acquisitions including the Florida-based Biscuits chain.

In 1990, Horn and Hardart sold most of its interest to Sienna Partners and Interwest Partners. The company was then headed by the former KFC executive, Dick Campbell. In 1994, the company attempted a public offering. Campbell was subsequently replaced by CEO Jim Peterson. The company was sold to a group of investors headed by the former Wendy's executive Joe Drury and financed by FMAC in 1998.[11]

Bojangles expanded throughout the 1990s and 2000s, with the 300th location opened in 2003. The restaurant started its first college campus location on the grounds of Central Piedmont Community College in 2005. The company also purchased naming rights to the original Charlotte Coliseum on Independence Boulevard in Charlotte.

Bojangles was purchased again in 2007 by Falfurrias Capital Partners,[12] a private equity firm. The first airport location was opened in 2008 at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. In August 2011, Falfurrias sold Bojangles to Boston-based Advent International, another private equity firm, after a competitive bidding process with other investors.[13]

Advertisement for Bojangles' at Durham Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina (1989)

In 2012, Bojangles began sponsoring the NASCAR race Bojangles' Southern 500, and opened another college campus restaurant at UNC Greensboro.[14]

The company's 600th restaurant opened on July 8, 2014, on Galleria Road in Charlotte with Charlotte mayor Dan Clodfelter cutting the celebratory ribbon.[15]

In April 2015, the company filed with the US regulator for an initial public offering of its common stock, expecting to raise $372 million.[16]

In January 2019, Randy Kibler was replaced by Jose Armario as the chief executive officer and brought with him Brian Unger as the chief operating officer. Both were past employees of McDonald's.[17]

Bojangles Hard Sweet Tea for sale at grocery store

On January 28, 2019, Bojangles was acquired by the Jordan Company and Durational Capital Management (making it a privately held company)[18] with Bojangles shareholders receiving $16.10 a share[19] after their approval on January 14, 2019.[20]

In December 2019, Bojangles and Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores came to an agreement to add 40 Bojangles locations at Love's Travel Stops in Illinois, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mississippi – all new states for Bojangles – over the following ten years.[21]

On August 3, 2020, the company released a statement saying that it was dropping the apostrophe from its name. On the same day, Bojangles released a video announcing a partnership with Dale Earnhardt Jr., the first celebrity to say the words, "It's Bo Time."[22]

On March 5, 2021, Bojangles announced a planned expansion into Columbus, Ohio, its first Ohio location, to begin later that year.[23] The announcement came on the same day Taco Johns announced it would significantly boost its Central Ohio presence,[24] as well as already-planned expansions into the market by Sheetz[25] and Del Taco.[26]

In March 2022, Bojangles announced that it would open its first 10 locations in New Jersey.[27]

Fried chicken at Bojangles

Restaurants offer the full menu during all operating hours. Biscuit sandwiches are the predominant breakfast item, including the signature cajun chicken filet biscuit, as well as country ham, egg, cheese, bacon, sausage and country fried steak options. For lunch and dinner, the signature item is the bone-in fried chicken with a variety of side items (called "Fixin's"), including French fries, cajun-seasoned pinto beans, dirty rice, Bo-tato Rounds (a type of tater tot), coleslaw, green beans, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and grits. They also offer boneless chicken tenders known as "Chicken Supremes" which are served with a variety of dipping sauces, fried and grilled chicken sandwiches, a fish sandwich known as the "Bojangler" and a number of salads which can be topped with either grilled or fried chicken. Desserts include the Bo-Berry biscuit, which is a biscuit with blueberries topped with a sugar glaze, a sweet-potato fried pie and cinnamon biscuits. Seasonal and limited-time offerings also appear on some menus, such as pork chop biscuits.[28]

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits.

References
  1. "All Bojangles' Locations | Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits". Bojangles. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  2. Ruggless, Ron (April 2, 2019). "Bojangles names new marketing chief". Nation's Restaurant News. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  3. Wehrum, Kasey (June 2011). "Obituary: Jack Fulk, 1932-2011". Inc. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  4. Myers, Dan (October 17, 2016). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits". The Daily Meal. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
    - Martorana, Celeste (February 16, 2016). "Bojangles' Taps AC&M Group to Connect with US Hispanic Consumers". Portada. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  5. "All Bojangles' Locations | Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits". locations.bojangles.com. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  6. NJ.com, Christopher Burch | NJ Advance Media for (March 2, 2022). "Bojangles is coming to N.J., opening 10 restaurants". nj. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  7. "Bojangles locations". Archived from the original on April 19, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  8. "Bojangles expanding to Las Vegas with opening of 20 restaurants"./
  9. McKibben, William (October 4, 1982). "Bojangles'". The Talk of the Town. The New Yorker. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  10. "Bojangles | History of our famous Chicken n' Biscuits restaurants". www.bojangles.com. Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  11. "Chicken Franchise Spreads Its Wings". Greater Charlotte Biz. September 2005. Archived from the original on August 15, 2007.
  12. "Bojangles' Acquired". QSR. September 13, 2007. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  13. "Bojangles". Advent International. Archived from the original on January 25, 2014. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  14. "History of our famous Chicken 'n Biscuits restaurants". Bojangles'. Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  15. Adams-Heard, Rachel. (July 9, 2014). "Bojangles' reaches a milestone: 600 stores" Archived July 14, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  16. "Restaurant chain Bojangles' files for IPO". Reuters (Press release). April 7, 2015. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  17. "Former McDonald's execs take helm at Bojangles' after sale". KNXV-TV. January 31, 2019. Archived from the original on April 23, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  18. "Bojangles', Inc., Durational Capital Management and The Jordan Company Complete Acquisition". GlobeNewswire (Press release). January 28, 2019. Archived from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  19. Peralta, Katherine (November 6, 2018). "NY firms to acquire Charlotte-based Bojangles'". The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
    - Miller, Jennifer (November 6, 2018). "Charlotte-based Bojangles' to be sold in 2019". WECT. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  20. Rivera, Michael (January 14, 2019). "Bojangles' receives stockholders approval for acquisition". Verdict Food Service. Archived from the original on April 16, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  21. Genovese, Daniella (December 18, 2019). "Bojangles' to expand into four more states in deal with Love's Travel Stops". Fox Business. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  22. Rao, Sonia (August 3, 2020). "Bojangles loses apostrophe in its name, gains Dale Jr. partnership, in rebrand". The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  23. "Bojangles restaurant chain planning 15 Columbus-area locations" Archived March 4, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, WSYX, 5 March 2021.
  24. "First Columbus Taco John's expected next year, with plans for more to follow". March 5, 2021. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  25. "Sheetz to Add 60 New Stores in Columbus Market". Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  26. California taco chain coming to the Columbus areaArchived April 1, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  27. Burch, Christopher (March 2, 2022). "Bojangles is finally coming to N.J., opening 10 restaurants". nj. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  28. "Bojangles Menu". Archived from the original on May 2, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
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