Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Mel Carter Become the #1 Black Owned Franchise in New Development Expansion Deal with Bojangles

Top Music Executive Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Mel Carter ink development deal with restaurant franchise Bojangles. Coach K who is responsible for Hip Hop stars Lil Baby, Migos, City Girls, and more partnered with Mel Carter who just recently launched his label, Second Estate Records under Warner Music. Prior, Carter served as the SVP of A&R for Republic Records.

“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, building upon their acquisition of 18 existing Bojangles restaurants in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The acquisition and size of the multi-unit development agreement make Melanbo the largest Black-controlled franchisee in 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 within 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 from 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.

“I’m proud to do this with Mel and to keep pushing forward Black entrepreneurship. We built our way up in music and it’s exciting to branch out in so many ways and to join forces with the #1 Black-owned franchise” -Kevin “Coach K” Lee, COO of Quality Control.

With this new development deal, they’re now the #1 black-owned franchise within Bojangles and 5th among all franchises. They’ll now own a total of 32 locations. 18 preexisting and the 14 they’re bringing to Atlanta.