Popeyes chicken franchise coming to south Kalispell

A new fast food franchise will be built soon on the south side of Kalispell.

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, a Southern fried chicken restaurant, will be built adjacent to Burger King near 18th Street East and U.S. 93.

The only other Popeyes franchise in Montana opened in February in Billings.

Big Sky King Properties, former U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg’s Billings real estate company, brought Burger King to south Kalispell in October.

“When we built the Burger King, the lot was big enough for two restaurants, so Popeyes has been in the works for a couple years,” said Janice Rehberg, a member at Big Sky King Properties. “Denny has always liked Kalispell, so that was our choice for the second opening.”

Big Sky King Properties also owns the Billings Popeyes franchise.

Rehberg said the company has rebranded itself to the national market in recent years, finally infiltrating the Northwest.

“We had a great opening here,” she said. “I think every Southerner living in Billings came out.”

Matthew Colebank, Big Sky King Properties business manager, said the franchise will be hiring about 70 employees when the building nears completion.

Jarod Nygren, a senior planner at the Kalispell Planning Department, said the project came to the planning office about three weeks ago. The 2,700-square-foot single-story building is currently in the building permit process.

“The details are being reviewed by the Architectural Review Committee,” Nygren said. “There, they’ll address a few small changes they want done to the plan.”

Nygren said the building value is listed at $475,000. Kramer Enterprises has the building contract, having worked with Big Sky King Properties on the Burger King site.