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Fast-Food Firm Seeks More Brands After Buying Into Fried Chicken and Bagels
AFC Enterprises started business in 1992 by purchasing the Church's Chicken and Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits chains out of bankruptcy and never looked back. Through an aggressive franchising program, AFC drove the once-troubled chains into a worldwide network with some 2,300 units in 30 countries. Expansion plans remain in high gear, says Gregg Kaplan, AFC's vice president for worldwide strategic development, because "there is tremendous growth left in the fried chicken category."
AFC struck next in May 1997 by catching Chesapeake Bagel Bakery on the rebound. The 168-unit chain centered in the Baltimore-Washington area was at liberty after its deal to be acquired by BAB Bagel Bakery fell through. Chesapeake offers a different kind of challenge. "They really didn't have a strategic growth plan," notes Kaplan, who said expansion tended to be scattershot once the company left its home base. So, AFC not...