New Connie's owners vow to keep business as usual
Aug. 11—TUPELO — The owners may be new, but it's business as usual at Connie's Chicken.
The new ownership group comprises Nickle Smith, Patrick Ellis and Tres Brasell, who opened Lamar Yard Smokehouse in Oxford last year. They recently purchased the chicken restaurant, a Tupelo staple for more than four decades, for an undisclosed sum.
"We want to be clear: We're happy to be in Tupelo," Ellis said. "This is a different ownership group from Lamar Yard, and we're looking forward to being here and being active in the community as it has been."
Connie's was founded in 1979 by Constantine Asters and his eldest son, Mike. His younger brother, Jay, joined the family business a few years later.
Famous for its chicken and its blueberry donuts, Connie's has long been an anchor on South Gloster Street, ideally located directly across from North Mississippi Medical Center. It's served as a beacon for many hungry diners over the years.
"Jay and Mike and the Asters family have done a great job," Smith said. "I grew up in Tupelo. Long story short: What we're going to change is nothing. This place is iconic, and we don't want to come in changing stuff. We're not reinventing the wheel; we're just trying to continue what they started."
Asters will remain a familiar face at Connie's and will be there as long as he wants, the new owners said.
"We've got a really good relationship with Jay, and we want to make sure the community knows how much we respect how much he's done for this institution in Tupelo," Ellis said.
Mike and Jay Asters worked in tandem for decades, but Mike Asters' death in December 2020 had a big impact on the the restaurant and Jay Asters' outlook on operating it.
The brothers essentially split their time equally running Connie's, but with his brother's passing, Jay Asters was pressed into working even longer hours.
"It did have an impact, along with dealing with COVID," Jay Asters said. "At the time, I wasn't really looking to do anything, but we got to talking, and it was a good feeling. It was time to do something."
