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February 26, 2008March 29 Frank Davis Book Signing (Thibodaux)
February 29, 2008
West Houma has added its first Arbys, and soon another KFC/Taco Bell franchise will join the list of restaurants residents can dine at when they don’t want to stand over a hot stove.
Houma has been booming with restaurant chain franchises for the past 10 years, helping to make it one of the fastest-growing parishes in a five-parish radius.
The new KFC/Taco Bell is being constructed on St. Charles Street and Louisiana Highway 311, next to MidSouth Bank. It will replace the KFC on West Park Avenue.
B & G Diversified Concept LLC, a Morgan City-based food corporation, owns the upcoming eatery. It has been in the Houma-Thibodaux area for more than 20 years with its Taco Bell franchises.
The company owns all the Taco Bells in Houma, a KFC in Houma, a Taco Bell in Thibodaux and a KFC/Taco Bell dual franchise in Gray.
The concept behind the combining a KFC and Taco Bell is to offer customers a variety, said company president Greg Hamer.
“It gives our customers a chance to have a variety. A person walks in with their family and some want chicken and some want tacos. It works out real well. They can have more of a selection,” he said.
If weather permits, the new 3,000 square-foot establishment, which seats 60, will make its debut sometime in April. Drive-through service will be available, Hamer said.
“We have been looking for a place in the St. Charles (Street) area for several years and we were finally able to secure this spot,” Hamer said. “We really feel that we are in a good spot. We won’t be in the commercial area, but we will be in a growing residential area.”
Hamer had thoughts about locating the new KFC/Taco Bell on MLK Boulevard, one of the fastest-growing areas in Houma, but decided his current Taco Bell on West Park would be too close.
The first Arbys opened in Houma on Feb. 4. Houma residents Dan and Helen Daigle own and operate the franchise at 1769 Martin Luther King Blvd. The family moved to Houma five years ago, but Daigle grew up in the Boutte/Luling area.
“We chose MLK Boulevard because it’s right in the middle of everything,” said Dan Daigle.
Daigle and his wife have traveled the U.S. because of his job as an airline pilot, and the two have seen the area grow at a massive pace.
“When we moved here in 2003, we could see everything moving out toward Martin Luther King Boulevard and we thought that it would be a great place to start,” Daigle said.
The decision to establish an Arbys franchise can be attributed to his children.
“I have two children and when we would take a road trip for sports, the family would always look for an Arbys,” he said.
Daigle is proud of his business expenditure. He said, “The customer’s response exceeds our expectation, we are glad to be a part of Houma’s growing market.”
The Arbys is 2,900 square feet and seats 74 people.
Drive-through service is available.
Workers are building a KFC/Taco Bell franchise on St. Charles Street, near Louisiana Highway 311 in West Houma. The site is slated to replace the KFC on West Park Avenue, according to Greg Hamer, president of B & G Diversified Concept LLC. * Photo courtesy of B & G DIVERSIFIED CONCEPT LLC
