Greg Vojnovic has been promoted from vice president of development to vice president and chief development officer of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.
“Since joining Popeyes in 2007, Greg’s passion and commitment to achieving results has taken Popeyes new restaurant development and new restaurant sales performance to new heights,” Popeyes president Ralph Bower said in an e-mail announcing Vojnovic’s appointment.
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“Under Greg’s leadership, Popeyes is outpacing the competition in unit growth. In 2011, we ranked third behind much larger brands like McDonald’s and Burger King; and we ranked first in unit growth amongst Chicken QSR brands,” he added.
In the first quarter of 2012, which ended April 30, Popeyes reported same-store sales growth of 7.4 percent — 3.8 percentage points higher than the quick-service chicken industry as a whole.
Bower said that, under Vojnovic’s tenure, average construction time for new locations has been reduced from 130 days to fewer than 90 days, and that sales volume at new locations has grown by more than 50 percent over the past four years.
During that time, Popeyes developed new site selection metrics that resulted in improved average unit volume of $1.5 million annually, Bower previously told Nation’s Restaurant News.
Popeyes’ parent company, Atlanta-based AFC Enterprises Inc., is scheduled to reports its second-quarter earnings after the market closes on August 15.
Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary