HARLINGEN — A second area Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen has shut down, and a new Arby’s is replacing this one, in San Benito.
Last month, an Arby’s spokesman confirmed the Popeyes at 1325 N. Ed Carey Drive had closed and would switch to Arby’s.
New signage at the San Benito Popeyes at 151 W. Expressway 83 says it will soon follow.
The new Arby’s restaurants will be the first in the Rio Grande Valley in about a decade.
Both of the locations are owned by Turbo Restaurants LLC, a Dallas-based company that has strong ties to Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc., parent company of the brand.
Arby’s Restaurant Group announced early this year that it had signed an agreeme nt with Turbo that would see it open 15 restaurants over the next five years in the Houston market.
A previous agreement committed Turbo to opening 15 new Arby’s restaurants in the Dallas market.
And in addition to those, Turbo committed to remodeling 12 of its restaurants.
Since the Popeyes buildings are relatively new, it is probable that they will be renovated into Arby’s locations.
It isn’t known when the new Arby’s restaurants will be up and running, but for now, the closest Arby’s locations are in San Antonio and Kingsville.
Arby’s embarked on an aggressive expansion plan late last year, promising to develop 138 restaurants nationwide.
“We are more focused than ever on bringing Arby’s restaurants to new markets and further expanding in existing markets,” company CEO Paul Brown said in March.
Arby’s had an industry-leading same-store sales increase of 8.1 percent in 2015, which was more than three times the growth rate in the rest of the quick-service restaurant industry, the company claims.
