NATCHEZ — Natchez residents love that chicken from Popeyes so much, the franchise owner has decided to open a new, bigger restaurant.

But residents won’t have to go far to enjoy the Louisiana recipes that started 40 years ago in New Orleans.

“The people of Natchez have been generous and very loyal customers, so we wanted to build a new Popeyes for them because we have such a loyal following in this area,” franchise owner Leslie Dominguez said.

Dominguez said she recently purchased a parcel of property at Magnolia Mall off U.S. 61, where the current Popeyes restaurant is located.

Dominguez said the new restaurant will only be 100 feet from the current location in the Magnolia Mall shopping center.

“This is the newest and biggest building design our parent company has, so it’s going to have much more seating and all new amenities like the Coca-Cola machine with more than 110 flavors,” Dominguez said. “That location has been very successful for us, so we wanted to stay in that area and keep that loyal customer base.”

Dominguez said she will appear before the Natchez Planning Commission Thursday in hopes of getting final approval for construction permits.

“We hope to have it open before 2014, but it’s difficult to predict a timeframe when you get around the holidays” she said. “As soon as we get permitted, we hope to have that Popeyes up and running in six months.”

Dominguez said the current restaurant won’t close until the new one opens its doors.

“The day I shut the lights off at the old store, we will open the new store the next morning,” Dominguez said. “There will not be one hour where there won’t be a Popeyes there.”

Apart from being able to serve more hungry customers, Dominguez said a new, larger building also means the opportunity for more dedicated employees.

“We will begin the hiring process soon, and we’re hoping to get as many applications as possible,” she said. “I’m just so thankful that the City of Natchez has been so loyal to us, and we can’t wait to open our new location.”