Fuel and forecourt retailer Applegreen is to create up to 450 jobs as it opens Popeyes chicken restaurants at its roadside locations around the country.
Under the new agreement, Applegreen will invest about €6m to open Popeyes outlets at a number of its Irish locations over the next four years.
It said its first Popeyes restaurant will open at its Midway, Junction 17 service station on the M7 at Portlaoise in Co Laois in the next few weeks.
Popeyes UK and Ireland, which holds the master franchise for Popeyes in both the UK and Republic of Ireland, recently opened its first Irish outlet in Blanchardstown in Dublin, with a second due to open in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre shortly.
Applegreen has been working with Popeyes in the US since 2021 and currently operates 24 of its chicken restaurants at travel plaza locations in Delaware, Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Popeyes operates from with around 5,400 restaurants in 50 countries worldwide, with annual sales of $8 billion.
It entered the UK market in 2021 and has already grown to over 110 restaurants there, with 3,500 employees.
It generated sales of over £118m in 2024, up from £15m in 2022.
“We are delighted to add Popeyes to our growing portfolio of high-quality brands in the Irish market,” Seamus Stapleton, Managing Director of Applegreen’s Republic of Ireland business, said.
“At Applegreen, we’re committed to raising the bar for roadside hospitality and offering great food and world‑class service to people on the move. Popeyes is a fantastic addition to the Applegreen offer and we can’t wait to open our first Popeyes outlet at Midway later this summer,” he added.
