Copeland?s Sales Hit $5.2M Again
by March 28, 2005 12:00 am 128 views
For the second year in a row, Copeland’s Famous New Orleans Restaurant in Rogers had $5.2 million in total sales, which makes it No. 1 in Northwest Arkansas in terms of sales volume and the No. 2 restaurant in the state.
Joe Lisuzzo, one of Copeland’s owners, told the Business Journal last year that Copeland’s had $5.3 million in sales for 2003, but he has since revised those figures by subtracting gift-card sales.
After opening on April 17, 2002, Copeland’s did $4.1 million in sales during the remaining eight and a half months of 2002.
Lisuzzo said 20 percent of Copeland’s 2004 sales, or about $1 million, were from alcohol. The restaurant did $4.2 million in food sales last year, he said.
The Red Lobster in North Little Rock led the central Arkansas market — and most likely the entire state — last year with $4.59 million in food sales alone. No other restaurant in central Arkansas topped the $4 million mark for food sales.
Olive Garden led in Fayetteville last year with $3.96 million in food sales. The Fayetteville numbers are based on the city’s hotel-motel-restaurant tax collections.
Rogers doesn’t have a restaurant tax, but Lisuzzo has been forthcoming with the sales numbers because Copeland’s appeared to be the top restaurant in the state last year and was close again this year.
Copeland’s Restaurant was founded in New Orleans by Al Copeland in 1983 and began franchising in late 1993.
The Rogers location is a franchise owned and operated by Cardinal Enterprises LLC, a group of Arkansas investors consisting of Joe and Jane Lisuzzo of Bella Vista, Beau and Shea Beard of Fayetteville and Joe and Jackie Muha of Bella Vista.
Richard LeBouff was hired as general manager of Copeland’s in November. He replaced Paul Nelson, who left in August.
LeBouff worked in the Houston area for Fuddrucker’s for a decade. He moved to Saudi Arabia in 1993 where he helped the company open new stores.
LeBouff joined Copeland’s in 1997, working at the chain’s restaurants in Dallas, Sherveport, La., and the Mississippi cities of Jackson and Hattiesburg. He left Copeland’s in 2000 to work for a charity but returned last year to manage the Rogers restaurant.