Quality Control Music‘s co-founder Coach K and Warner Records music executive Mel Carter have signed a deal to acquire 32 Bojangles restaurants through their franchise development company Melanbo. In doing so, they plan to open 14 new sites in the Greater Atlanta area.
“I’m proud to do this with Mel and to keep pushing forward Black entrepreneurship,” Coach K said of the acquisition. “We built our way up in music and it’s exciting to branch out in so many ways and to join forces with the number one Black-owned franchise.”
“Immigrating from Trinidad and Tobago, it was always my dream to be an owner of a major restaurant franchise. Being the largest black owner of a QSR Franchise alongside Coach K at an establishment as great as Bojangles brings me great honor and I am deeply blessed," Mel Carter added.
Patricia Halpin, Vice President of Franchise Growth at Bojangles, also added that they've been "aggressively" looking to expand in Atlanta.
“Mel and Coach K bring a unique perspective and energy to our network of operators that will be extremely beneficial to the brand’s growth going forward," Halpin said.
In addition to opening 14 new sites, the two will acquire 18 existing Bojangles locations. The restaurants span across Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
The expansion comes just one year after Bojangles opened 100 new restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth, Cleveland, and Baltimore, as well as Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. The deal makes Melanbo the largest Black-owned franchisee within Bojangles' system.
[Via]
