Chick-fil-A is one of the largest fast-food restaurant chains in America. It is the largest restaurant that specializes in chicken sandwiches. Its headquarters are located in College Park, Georgia. The company operates more than 2300 restaurants in America. Its branches are located in 47 out of the 50 states in America, and they are planning to open a new restaurant in Hawaii, which will be the 48th state. The fast-food chain also offers customer catered selections from its menu for special events. The company’s stance of opposing same-sex marriage has been a subject of public controversy.
Inception
The chain’s origin can be traced to the Dwarf Grill, a restaurant that was opened by S. Truett Cathy, who was the chain’s former chairman and CEO. In 1946, she opened the Dwarf Grill, which was a tiny diner in Hapeville, Georgia. In 1961, after nearly 15 years of fast food business, Cathy found a pressure fryer that could cook the chicken sandwich in the same amount of time as that of a fast-food hamburger. After this discovery, he registered the name Chick-fil-A Inc.
Their slogan is, “We Didn’t Invent the Chicken, Just the Chicken Sandwich.” It is trademarked. The first restaurant under this name opened in 1967 in the food court of the Greenbriar Mall. It is located in a suburb of Atlanta. Since 1997, this company has been the title sponsor of the Peach Bowl, which is an annual college football bowl game played on New Year’s Eve. It is also the chief sponsor of SEC and ACC of college athletics.
Evolution
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the company expanded by opening new locations in food courts of other suburban malls. On April 16, 1986, they opened their first-ever freestanding location. This restaurant is located on North Druid Hills Road in Atlanta, Georgia. After this, the company decided to focus more on these stand-alone type units.
In 2008, Chick-fil-A became the first-ever trans-fat free, fast food restaurant. Then in 2015, the company opened a three-story 5000sq ft. Restaurant in Manhattan. This restaurant became the largest free-standing Chick-fil-A in the country at that time. Chick-fil-A remained closed on Sundays, but on December 17, 2017, they broke their tradition and opened on Sunday to prepare meals for the passengers that have been stranded during the power outage at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Then again, on January 13, 2019, a Chick-fil-A in Mobile, Alabama, opened on Sunday to honor the birthday wish of a young 14-year-old boy with cerebral palsy and autism.
Chick-Fil-A has locations in other countries as well. Their first international location was Canada when they opened in September 1994 at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Then in August 1996, Chick-fil-A opened its first-ever location outside of North America by building a restaurant in Durban, South Africa. A second restaurant was opened in Johannesburg. Both these locations were unsuccessful and were closed by 2001.
They then opened for the first time in the United Kingdom during Spring 2018.
Awards & Achievements
Chick-fil-A won 4 awards in 2019, and in 2018, they won 2 awards.
In 2019 they won Best Company Work-Life Balance, Best Leadership Teams 2019, Best Sales Team 2019, and Best Company Outlook 2019.
In 2018, the company won Best Company Culture 2018 and Best Company for Woman 2018.
Based on ratings and reviews by the employees, it has been noticed that they are satisfied with their work experience in Chick-fil-A.
Net Worth of Chick-fil-A in 2024
As of December 2024, Chick-fil-A was ranked 8th by QSR after they earned $10 Billion in sales. An average Chick-fil-A unit makes around $4.090,900. By contrast, total sales for a McDonald’s is $2,670,320 per unit.
The net worth of the founder, Daniel Truett Cathy, is $6.6 Billion. This indicates that Chick-fil-A is very popular among Americans. They have far fewer units than Subway, McDonald’s, but still earns more money if we make the calculation of sales per unit.
Chick-fil-A is one of the most famous fast food joints in America. The company regularly competes with other famous fast food joints in terms of sales, and they only fall behind because of their less number of units. They are a pure American fast-food company with very few outlets outside the U.S. Their chicken sandwiches are their specialty, and most Americans love their recipes. We have to really thank their founder Daniel Truett Cathy for giving us such a good restaurant with good and hygienic food.
I would eat breakfast at the first Chic Fil A in Hapeville Ga. I was stationed at Ft McPherson Ga. I met all of the family at one time or another. They were active with the churches, the schools and other charities. What a pleasure it was to know this generous and Christian family have achieved so much and gave so much to others.