Recent reports and outlier location issues appear to have confused some patrons of temporary vs. permanent closing strategies.
Author’s Note
This article is free of bias, and is based on corporate postings and accredited media reports. All linked information within this article is fully-attributed to the following outlets: Google.com, CNN Business, Snopes.com, Wikipedia.org, QSRMagazine.com, Mashed.com, and DailyMail.com.
Introduction
Word of various Chick-fil-A closings around the country has been common in recent years. Reported closings were said to be both temporary and permanent, while those with no apparent change of status were to remain closed on Sundays.
As is typical, however, rumors were subsequently spread by social media posters who were bereft of all the facts. Said rumors in turn led to mounting concerns expressed online, and questions such as the following (as found in a cursory Google search):
Question: Why are they permanently closing down Chick-fil-A?
Answer: Many Chick-fil-A locations across the country have been dealing with the ongoing ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, Chick-fil-A's two-day closure over Christmas will serve as a much-needed break for workers. It's widely known that Chick-fil-A isn't open on Sundays.
The answer was accurate. See here for November, 2021 CNN Business report by Jordan Valinsky, “Chick-fil-A Will Be Closed Christmas Weekend,” which explains the confusion of the two-day closure as referenced, as opposed to something permanent.
Even fact-checking website Snopes.com weighed in on the matter, in their article entitled “Chick-fil-A Will Be Closed on Christmas 2021, Which is a Saturday” by Bethania Palma.
From the Snopes piece: Some clickbait headlines made it sound like the restaurant chain might be closing on Saturdays for good. In mid-November 2021, KSTU, a Salt Lake City-based Fox affiliate news station, published a headline that misleadingly reported that the fast food chain Chick-fil-A would be “closing on Saturday now, too,” indicating that the restaurants, which are already closed on Sundays, would now be closed both weekend days. That is not the case. If one reads the article accompanying the headline, KSTU actually reports that Chick-fil-A locations will be closed just one Saturday — Christmas Day, which in 2021 falls on a Saturday.
The issue was clarified, but this was not the only recent news that led some fans to question the venerability of the Chick-fil-A chain. Confusion also occurred before and after the Christmas closing. Despite some highly-publicized and controversial ideological views that garnered the chain its share of poor publicity over the years, for the purpose of this article I am referring specifically to news reports that have discussed the company’s present business status.
Let us explore further.
Chick-fil-A, 2022
Chick-fil-A remains one of the most financially successful of all domestic fast food companies. According to the chain’s Wikipedia page: Chick-fil-A is one of the largest American fast food restaurant chains and the largest whose specialty is chicken sandwiches… The company operates 2,815 restaurants, primarily in the United States, with locations in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Future restaurants are planned in Hawaii, and will bring their presence in the US to 48 states and 2 territories. Though its former locations in the United Kingdom and South Africa are closed, Chick-fil-A's restaurants in Canada remain open.
It should be noted the U.K. location closed as a result of widespread LGBTQ protests over a company stance that proved highly controversial.
In March of 2020, word spread on social media about the chain’s imminent closure entirely, due to the temporary closing of Chick-fil-A dining areas. See QSRMagazine.com article on the matter here, by Ben Coley.
As explained in Coley’s article, the temporary closings were due to Covid-19 concerns only, much like those taken by other restaurants.
In July, 2021, Lucy Maddox published an article on Mashed.com entitled “The Sad Reason This Almost 50-Year-Old Chick-Fil-A Is About To Close.” This particular location was an outlier, and not representative of the chain as a whole.
From the article: Joining the ranks of closing restaurants is a Chick-fil-A located in Brookwood Village mall in Birmingham, Alabama. The fast-food joint opened its doors in 1974 and is the oldest Chick-fil-A in the state to date. While the financial challenges caused by the pandemic initially affected business, owner Jerry Cotney said that COVID-19 is not the sole reason for the store's closing. "It's been a good run," says Cotney in a recent post on Instagram. "This mall was a thriving place, as many of you remember. And now, it's under change of ownership, and it looks like our time has ended." As outdoor dining and online shopping have begun to run rampant, Brookwood Village has also seen many other staple fixtures leave the building, including Books-A-Million, Jason's Deli, and Brio Tuscan Grille.
The primary reason for this closing was a lease issue.
Just this month, March of 2022, the Daily Mail published a story about a beleaguered Santa Barbara, California location set to be labeled a “public nuisance” by the city See here for DailyMail.com article by Gina Martinez, whose title says it all: “Chick-fil-A May Be Declared a 'Public Nuisance' by the City of Santa Barbara After Long Drive-Thru Lines Leave Traffic Backed Up For Hours on a Main City Thoroughfare.”
Again, this location is an outlier.
Conclusion
According to the MD Daily Record, Chick-fil-A’s 2022 net worth is $15 billion.
This chain is safe, and there is no legitimate indication the chain will permanently close anytime soon.
Thank you for reading.
Comments / 52