At least three Jacksonville-area Popeyes restaurants have closed following bankruptcy proceedings for one of the Miami-based fast-food chain’s biggest franchisees in Florida.
Among the locations that closed is Jacksonville’s first Popeyes restaurant at 1509 University Blvd. N., which opened nearly a half-century ago, in 1977.
On June 26, the restaurant was listed as closed on Popeyes’ website, and a person who answered the phone at the restaurant confirmed it had permanently closed. Other area restaurants listed as closed on Popeyes’ website included 7507 Atlantic Blvd. in Jacksonville and 524 Atlantic Blvd. in Neptune Beach.
All three locations displayed signs on doors and drive-thru menu boards reading, “We regret to inform you that this location has permanently closed.”
The three restaurants, like all area Popeyes restaurants, are operated by franchisee Sailormen Inc., according to the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation.
New Popeyes closings follow franchisee bankruptcy, two other closings in Jacksonville earlier this year
The closings follow two others in Jacksonville in early February: 1833 Kings Road near Edward Waters University and at 649 S. McDuff Ave.
Sailormen, which owned more than 130 Popeyes locations in Florida and Georgia, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 15, according to USA TODAY. The company reported in its bankruptcy filing that it was in debt by nearly $130 million at the time.
In the filing, Sailormen cited the lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and “increasingly limited qualified labor force” as contributing factors to the company’s financial problems, USA TODAY reported.
On June 26, Nations Restaurant News reported that Sailormen has found buyers for 97 of its Florida restaurants, citing a bankruptcy filing in the Southern District of Florida. And of those, 50 locations in Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Tampa and Pensacola will be acquired by Pulse Restaurant Group for $2.69 million.
“The auction process has concluded, and 97 of the original 136 restaurants will now be in the hands of great, local operators who are well suited to reinvest in their businesses and deliver excellent service for guests in their communities,” a Popeyes spokesperson told Nation’s Restaurant News. “We’re proud of the strong franchisees stepping up here, and this outcome reflects the strength of the Popeyes brand throughout Florida and Georgia.”
The remaining restaurants are likely to close in the coming days.
How many Popeyes restaurants are left in the Jacksonville area?
With the three closings in Northeast Florida, Popeyes now operates 15 restaurants in Duval County, three in Clay and one in Nassau, according to a listing of food service licenses reported by the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation.
It was immediately unclear whether any of the remaining restaurants would also shutter.
How long had the Popeyes restaurants been open in Jacksonville?
The Popeyes restaurant at 524 Atlantic Blvd. in Neptune Beach opened in 1983 at the then-Kmart-anchored Neptune Plaza. The location at 7507 Atlantic Blvd., in the Woodland Acres neighborhood near Arlington, opened in 1990. The two locations that closed earlier this year, at 1833 Kings Road and at 649 S. McDuff Ave., opened in 1989 and around 1991, respectively, according to previous Times-Union reporting.
Thirty years ago, in 1996, Popeyes operated 20 restaurants in the Jacksonville area.
Founded in New Orleans in 1972, Popeyes was acquired by Restaurant Brands International — the same company that in 2021 bought Jacksonville-based Firehouse Subs for $1 billion — in 2017. RBI also owns Burger King — which traces its roots to Jacksonville, too — and Tim Hortons.
According to trade magazine Restaurant Business, Popeyes’ first quarter of 2026 was its worst quarter in nearly 20 years, with same-store sales down 6.5 percent, the fifth consecutive quarter of negative same-store sales for the chain.
In 2025, Popeyes’ U.S. sales totaled $5.7 billion, ranking it No. 2 in Technomic’s Top 10 largest U.S. chicken chains, just above Raising Cane’s ($5.5 billion). Leader Chick-fil-A had a whopping $23.9 billion in sales, Restaurant Business reported, citing Technomic data.
Corey Perrine of the Times-Union contributed to this report.
Gary T. Mills is the deputy managing editor at The Florida Times-Union. He has led the newspaper’s dining coverage since 2010.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville’s oldest Popeyes among 3 new restaurant closures
Reporting by Gary T. Mills, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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By Gary T. Mills, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
