Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A is an American fast-food chain specializing in chicken-based products, most notably its signature fried chicken sandwich. Founded in 1946 by S. Truett Cathy in Hapeville, Georgia, the brand has grown significantly, operating more than 2,600 restaurants across the U.S. as of 2023. Chick-fil-A distinguishes itself from competitors by not offering typical fast-food beef items and has a well-known advertising campaign featuring cows promoting the message "Eat Mor Chikin." The company operates under the influence of its founder's Southern Baptist beliefs, including closing on Sundays to allow employees time for rest and family.
Chick-fil-A has faced controversies, notably surrounding comments made by COO Dan Cathy regarding same-sex marriage in 2012, which led to public boycotts. Despite this, the company has continued to thrive, achieving nearly $21.6 billion in sales by 2023, making it the third-largest fast-food chain in the U.S. Chick-fil-A is also recognized for its commitment to customer service, training employees to prioritize politeness and engagement with customers. Additionally, the company emphasizes fresh ingredients, pledging to serve antibiotic-free chicken and transitioning to 100 percent cage-free eggs by 2026.
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Subject Terms
Chick-fil-A
Company Information
- Date Founded: 1946
- Industry: restaurant; fast food
- Corporate Headquarters: College Park, Georgia
- Type: Private
Overview
Chick-fil-A is an American fast-food chain of restaurants. The restaurant specializes in fried chicken sandwiches and serves other chicken-based items. Chick-fil-A sets itself aside from other fast-food restaurants by not serving typical fast-food beef products such as hamburgers. Its advertising campaign features cows urging people to "Eat Mor Chikin." Chick-fil-A's name is short for chicken fillet and has a capital A at the end to stand for "grade A top quality."
The restaurant is influenced by the founder's Christian principles and beliefs. Its Southern Baptist founder, S. Truett Cathy, decided restaurants would remain closed on Sundays to give employees a day to rest, spend time with family and friends, or for religious worship. Chick-fil-A encountered controversy in 2012 when its chief operating officer (COO), Dan Cathy, Cathy's son, criticized same-sex marriage. The restaurant faced boycotts but has since recovered from the controversy.
Dan Cathy took over as CEO, chairman, and president of the company after his father stepped down from his duties in 2013. Prior to the elder Cathy's death in 2014, he created a contract allowing his children to sell the company, but it had a clause preventing the company from ever becoming a publicly traded entity. In 2021, Dan Cathy resigned from his role as CEO, and his son, Andrew Truett Cathy, took over the position.
History
Samuel Truett Cathy was born in 1921. His family struggled financially during the Great Depression (1929–39), and from a young age, Cathy worked hard to help make money for the family. He later entered the US Army and was discharged in 1946. At this time, he and his brother, Ben Cathy, decided to go into the restaurant business. Cathy was inspired to open his own business after reading the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
The two brothers opened an establishment called the Dwarf Grill (later renamed the Dwarf House) in Hapeville, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. They chose a location for the restaurant near the Ford automobile plant because the plant employed many people, and they hoped the workers would patronize their establishment during lunchtime. The Dwarf Grill became successful, but then tragedy hit the Cathy family when Ben Cathy was killed in an airplane crash. Cathy continued to run the business by himself and later franchised the Dwarf House brand of restaurants throughout the Atlanta area.
Chicken was very time-consuming to prepare for fast-food restaurants, but Cathy wanted to develop a faster way to cook the item. He began to experiment with pressure cookers and test different chicken recipes. He found that pressure-cooking produced a perfectly cooked chicken breast in very little time. He then created a chicken breast sandwich, which featured a toasted butter bun and two pickles, in 1964.
As suburbs and indoor shopping malls grew throughout America during this time, Cathy capitalized on this trend. He opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in 1967 in the Greenbriar Mall in Atlanta. The restaurant featured his chicken sandwich, which later became the staple of Chick-fil-A restaurants.
Cathy incorporated his Southern Baptist beliefs into his business model. His stores remained closed on Sundays to allow employees to attend religious services or relax with family and friends. He also focused on customer service. Employees were trained to say "please," "thank you," and "my pleasure" during each transaction. Cathy then began to franchise the restaurant chains, and many Chick-fil-A locations opened. However, at this time, Chick-fil-A only operated restaurants in malls in the United States.
In 1984, the company established its corporate headquarters in College Park, Georgia. Two years later, Chick-fil-A decided to experiment with the stand-alone restaurant model, and its first location outside of a mall opened on North Druid Hills Road in Atlanta. Other stand-alone restaurants followed for the chain.
Cathy began to use his humor in his advertising campaign for Chick-fil-A in the 1990s. In 1994, his commercials and advertisements featured cows holding signs with the message "Eat Mor Chikin" to urge consumers to forgo burgers chains and try Chick-fil-A instead.
In 1996, Chick-fil-A became the sponsor of the Peach Bowl college football bowl in Atlanta. The brand continued to expand, and more franchises opened throughout the country into the new millennium. By 2006, Chick-fil-A was a multibillion-dollar company.
In 2012, however, the company became the focus of a controversy regarding gay marriage. Its charitable arm of the company reportedly donated to groups that were pro-family and opposed gay marriage. In addition, CEO Dan Cathy made comments about the company's support of traditional marriage, or marriage between a man and a woman. The LGBTQ community and its supporters called for a boycott of the restaurant and held protests. While Cathy did not take back his comments over his beliefs, he apologized for getting the restaurant involved in the debate. Despite the remarks, Chick-fil-A continued to see significant growth in the years that followed. By 2023, the company had more than 2,600 restaurants across the United States and nearly $21.6 billion in sales.
Impact
Despite the backlash Chick-fil-A received over the same-sex marriage controversy, the brand remained a popular fast-food chain dedicated to chicken and its Christian values. It continued to give back to the community by donating to numerous charitable causes. It also supported foster care programs and children's camp programs. The company provided college scholarships for its employees.
Chick-fil-A experienced remarkable growth in the 2020s, despite challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2023, it had become the third-largest fast-food chain in the US by sales, behind only McDonald's and Starbucks, earning over $21.5 billion. The restaurant, which prides itself on its pleasant workers who are trained to smile, make eye contact, and say "please" and "thank you," was also ranked one of the most polite restaurant chains.
The company also remained dedicated to using fresh ingredients. In 2016, the fast-food restaurant announced that the chicken served at all of its locations would be antibiotic free by the end of 2019. It also planned to use 100 percent cage-free eggs by the end of 2026.
Bibliography
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Horovitz, Bruce. "Chick-fil-A Wings in New Direction after Gay Flap." USA Today, 8 Apr. 2014, www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/04/07/chick-fil-a-fast-food-dan-cathy/7250871. Accessed 12 Mar. 2017.
Kelso, Alicia. "Chick-fil-A Continues to Gain Market Share While Setting Another Average Unit Volume Record." Nation's Restaurant News, 4 Apr. 2024, www.nrn.com/quick-service/chick-fil-continues-gain-market-share-while-setting-another-average-unit-volume-record. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
Lorinc, John. "Chick-Fil-A Founder Credited His Success to Christian Principles." NPR, 8 Sept. 2014, www.npr.org/2014/09/08/346879504/chick-fil-a-founder-credited-his-success-to-christian-principles. Accessed 12 Mar. 2017.
Maze, Jonathan. "Dan Cathy Steps Down as Chick-fil-A CEO." Restaurant Business, 16 Sept. 2021, www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/leadership/dan-cathy-steps-down-chick-fil-ceo. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
Merritt, Jonathan. "In Defense of Eating at Chick-fil-A." Atlantic, 20 July 2012, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/in-defense-of-eating-at-chick-fil-a/260139. Accessed 12 Mar. 2017.
Sieczkowski, Cavan. "Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy Speaks Out on Gay Marriage Controversy." Huffington Post, 2 Feb. 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/17/chick-fil-a-dan-cathy-gay-marriage‗n‗4980682.html. Accessed 12 Mar. 2017.
Taylor, Kate. "Chick-fil-A Is Beating Every Competitor by Training Workers to Say 'Please' and 'Thank You.'" Business Insider, 3 Oct. 2016, www.businessinsider.com/chick-fil-a-is-the-most-polite-chain-2016-10. Accessed 12 Mar. 2017.
Taylor, Kate. "The Incredible Story of How Chick-fil-A Took over Fast Food." Business Insider, 25 Jan. 2016, www.businessinsider.com/chick-fil-a-history-and-facts-2016-1. Accessed 12 Mar. 2017.