Top music executive’s Coach K and Warner Records executive Mel Carter inked a major development deal with Bojangles franchise. Coach K who is responsible for hip-hop stars Lil Baby, Migos, City Girls and more prominent artists, partnered with Mel Carter who recently launched his own label, Second Estate Records under Warner Music. Previously, Carter served as the SVP of A&R for Republic Records.
With this new development deal, they are now the No. 1 black owned franchise within Bojangles and ranked fifth largest within all franchises. They’ll now own a total of 32 locations. 18 preexisting and the 14 they’re bringing to Atlanta.
“Immigrating from Trinidad and Tobago it was always my dream to be an owner of a major restaurant franchise,” said Carter. “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.”
Carter and his ownership group, will develop 14 new locations in Greater Atlanta, adding to their portfolio of 18 existing Bojangles restaurants in Georgia, North Carolina and
South Carolina. The acquisition and size of the multi-unit development agreement makes Melanbo the largest Black controlled franchisee in the Bojangles system.
“Over the last few years, we have been aggressively seeking opportunities to grow our footprint in Atlanta, and we are thrilled to have reached an agreement with two influential voices in the city’s community,” said Patricia Halpin, vice president of Franchise Growth, Bojangles. “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.”
Bojangles’ agreement with Carter and Lee builds on the brand’s accelerated growth in 2022 with more than 100 new locations in its development pipeline in target markets which include Dallas-Fort Worth, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., among others.
“I am very excited, and I hope to be able to inspire teens and Black youth who grew up in underserved low-income homes. I want them to know they can be successful businessmen and with an accomplishment as great as this, I am honored to embody that.
