The Popeyes Lineups Are About Way More Than Chicken

This week, Nova Scotia’s new government released its first budget, a massive affordable housing project was announced in Halifax, and a Nova Scotian director won an Oscar.

But all anyone in Halifax really wanted to talk about was fried chicken.

On March 30, Louisiana-style fried chicken joint Popeyes opened its first Maritime franchise in a squat building just off Larry Uteck Boulevard—and chaos ensued.

On opening day, a line of cars snarled traffic in Bedford as people idled for hours waiting to get their hands on a chicken sandwich. Security was on hand to handle traffic; employees bribed people with biscuits to leave the line; eventually, the restaurant had to close early.

A few days earlier, Huddle reporter Derek Montague had written about the pending opening. The traffic to that short story was an early indication that people were very, very excited for Popeyes to open in Halifax.

RELATED: Popeyes Hires Crowd Control For March 30 Opening In Bedford

It’s a running joke in the Huddle newsroom that no matter how many hours we put into a hard-hitting and deeply reported story, it will never get the same attention as a short hit about an American chain opening in a Maritime city.

Case and point: Derek’s story will probably be our most-read article this year.

To Derek’s credit, he managed to wrangle some great details that made the story extra compelling, like management hiring security to deal with traffic. But I know he’s worked a lot harder on much more important stories that have received much less attention.

I’m not bitter about that: the street-level retail stories we often publish are a great way to highlight how big economic issues affect our readers’ lives.

They connect high-level economic trends to tangible changes in people’s communities: a bike shop upgrading employees to a living wage brings home issues like cost-of-living increases and labour shortages. A chic restaurant opening in a new building showcases how development shapes the business environment of our city.

You can find similar connections in what happened at Popeyes on Wednesday.

I’ve had a lot of conversations this week about why Maritimers go so nuts when big American chains open in our cities.

The less charitable opinion is that we suffer from a pervasive inferiority complex. Our little region has been passed over for so long, by so many, that we’re just so grateful when high-profile brands bless us with their presence.

We might not have global celebrities singing our praises, like Drake literally does for Toronto, but we’re still relevant—we have an IHOP!

Like I said, that’s the less charitable view. And I don’t buy it.

I’ve never met a Maritimer who wasn’t fiercely proud of their town, city, or province. We know our corner of the world is great and we want everyone to see that.

I’ve been telling people Halifax is the best city on Earth for decades, even when the economy was sputtering and young people were fleeing west for better opportunities.

But now, the region is truly thriving. Serious people are making a serious case that Halifax actually is the best city on Earth.

Nova Scotia broke records last year as more than 9,000 new residents moved to the province and our population surged passed 1 million. Just this week, we reported New Brunswick’s population has passed 800,000.

Businesses big and small are waking up to that growth and they want in. Amazon and Deloitte are building delivery centres in our cities, L.L. Bean, Decathlon, and other global brands are opening retail shops.

Popeyes opening in Bedford is just the latest tangible proof that the economy is healthy and people (and businesses) want to be here.

People lining up for Popeyes aren’t excited about popcorn shrimp. They’re excited about growth; they’re excited that international businesses want in on the Maritimes; they’re excited the region is finally getting the attention it always deserved, and they just want to be connected to that.

So while many will snicker at what they see as chicken-crazed rubes idling for hours in their cars, I see those lineups and I get excited.

I see hundreds of people who are invested in our city and pumped to support the ventures that come here. Sure, they probably won’t inspire any Drake songs, but if their enthusiasm keeps bringing investment to the city, I’ll take it.

The Saturday Huddle is a weekly column that features opinion, analysis, and reflections on Huddle stories, podcasts, and business news in the region. Trevor Nichols is Huddle’s associate editor, based in Halifax.