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Chick-fil-A

File:Chick-fil-A.svg
Company type	Private
Industry	Restaurants
Founded	1946 (first Dwarf House opened in Rapeville, Georgia) 1967 (first Chick-fil-A opened in Atlanta, Georgia)
Headquarters	College Park, Georgia, U.S.
Key people	S. Truett Cathy Owner Dan Cathy President
Products	Sandwiches, chicken entrées
Revenue	$3.0 billion USD (2009)
Owner	S. Truett Cathy
Website	www.chick-fil-a.com

Chick-fil-A is a restaurant chain headquartered in College Park, Georgia, United States that specializes in chicken entrées. It is the second-largest chicken-based fast-food chain in the United States (behind Kentucky Fried Chicken).

Though long associated with the southern United States, the chain has expanded into much of the nation (see map below). As of December 2009, the chain has over 1,600 locations in 38 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

The chain is famous for being closed on Sundays. In a interview with ABC News's Nightline, Dan Cathy (son of company owner S. Truett Cathy) told Vicki Mabrey the origin of that company decision. His father, Truett Cathy, the founder of Chik-fil-A, opened his first restaurant on a Tuesday and "by the time Sunday came, he was just worn out. And Sunday was not a big trading day, anyway, at the time. Another reason the he was closed on Sunday was due to religious convictions of the family to remain closed on the Christian "Sabbath". So he was closed that first Sunday and we've been closed ever since. He figured if he didn't like working on Sundays, that other people didn't either." Cathy quoted his father Truett as saying " 'I don't want to ask people to do that what I am not willing to do myself.'"

History

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Chick-fil-A had historically been identified with shopping malls, as the majority of its first locations were in their food courts. However, the first freestanding location was opened in 1986, and most new store openings today are as well. This is emphasized by the fact that the chain now has over 800 such units. It also has over two dozen drive-through-only locations. There are also restaurants in universities, hospitals, and airports through licensing agreements.

The chain grew from the Dwarf Grill (later the Dwarf House, a name still used by the chain), a restaurant opened by S. Truett Cathy, who is still the company's chairman, in the Atlanta suburb of Hapeville in 1946. This restaurant is located near the now demolished Ford plant, where workers once caught meals between shifts. The first Chick-fil-A opened in a mall was established in Atlanta's Greenbriar Mall in 1967. The company claims that their current slogan, "We Didn't Invent the Chicken, Just the Chicken Sandwich," is based on a true story: at a time when hamburgers dominated fast-food menus since the beginning, Cathy was credited with creating and inventing the chicken sandwich, which went on to be Chick-fil-A's flagship menu item. His big idea for the chicken sandwich stemmed from the idea of creating a quick way to serve food. He discovered that pressure cooking the chicken in peanut oil allowed for a fast serving time. The sandwich also comes with two pickles simply because that was the only condiment he had on hand when the sandwich was created.

Chick-fil-A achieved quite a bit of notability in October 2003, when it was publicly announced in a major ad campaign that a new store, opening in Goodyear, Arizona, on October 16, 2003, would offer, to the first 100 to enter its doors, coupons for a free combo meal every week for a year. Along with this promotion (which was widely featured on the Internet), the company threw a huge opening day carnival, complete with karaoke, free ice cream, klieg lights, and prize raffles. The "First 100" promotion is now held at the opening of every new Chick-fil-A restaurant, with people camping out for up to several days before the opening to guarantee their place in line.

Since 1997, the Atlanta-based company has been the title sponsor of the Peach Bowl, an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta. Beginning in the 2006 season, the Peach Bowl became the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Chick-fil-A also is a key sponsor of the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 conferences of college athletics.

"EAT MOR CHIKIN" is the chain's most prominent advertising slogan, created by The Richards Group. The slogan is often seen in advertisements featuring sign-wearing cows. According to Chick-fil-A's advertising strategies, the cows have united in an effort to reform American food, in an effort to reduce the amount of beef which is eaten. They wish the American public to refrain from eating beef burgers, common at Chick-fil-A's competitors, such as McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's, and instead focus on eating chicken, or "chikin" as the cows spell it. The ad campaign was temporarily halted during a mad cow disease scare in late 2003/early 2004 so as not to make the chain seem insensitive or appear to be taking advantage of the scare to increase its sales. A few months later, the cows were put up again. The cows replaced the chain's old mascot, Doodles, an anthropomorphized chicken who still appears as the C on the logo.

Occasionally, in their television commercials, the cows "take matters into their own hooves" and become somewhat combative in their efforts to get people to "EAT MOR CHIKIN." One recent Chick-fil-A commercial featured a cow jumping on top of a passing minivan and stealing the occupants' sack of fast-food burgers, much to the shock of a very young boy (whose parents, seated in the front seat, were completely oblivious). The company's TV ad for 2006 featured bovines parachuting onto a football field during a college football game, complete with "EAT MOR CHIKIN" banners, and attacking the hamburger vendor.

Sometimes these billboards incorporate a little bit of local color or local inside jokes. One such example showed up in Knoxville, Tennessee, during 2003. The billboard was located along Interstate 40 in the West Hills neighborhood and featured an orange (instead of white) background with traffic cones and a cow wearing a safety vest. The text on the billboard read, "CHIKIN ZONE NEXT 3000 MILES," a reference to the lengthy and expensive construction projects that have been the bane of Knoxville motorists since the early 1970s.

Another billboard, located along southbound Interstate 75 on the north side of Atlanta, featured a cow dressed as Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind and the text, "Welcome to Atlanta, where it's proppa to eat chikin."

Another billboard, visible on Interstate 85 northbound, somewhere south of Atlanta, depicts the words "This space for..." with the word "rent" scratched out and replaced with "CHIKIN", as well as a toll-free number that when dialed, directs callers to a recorded message of a man. The man greets you and says that "You have reached the "Bovine Chikin Chatline"". The man goes on to talk about different "bulls" and "heifers" that you can "get to know". Then the man goes on to talk about the cows interests and hobbies, including one whose pet peeves include, "cow tipping and the color red". It is obvious throughout the whole recording that the entire thing is for amusement only. Within the recording, he claims that a bull "loves people who eat chicken, and the folks at Chick-fil-A". In the closing line of the recording, the man encourages the caller to "hang up, and grab some chicken now".

Chick-fil-A has also used a billboard that simply states, "We do chicken left." This was to indicate that the restaurant could be found by taking a left off the interstate exit, but was also a play on the former Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan, "We do chicken right." In addition, as part of a sponsorship deal with the Atlanta Braves, the company placed a giant 40 feet (12 m), 15,000 pounds (6,800 kg) "tomahawk chopping" cow at the Braves' home field, Turner Field.

The company also produces annual coupon-bearing "cow calendars" every year, featuring bovines in various parodies that have included "The Cow Channel" (2003), "Cow Superheroes" (2004), "Secret Agent Cows" (2005), "Cows in Shining Armor" (2006), "The Good, The Bad, and the Hairy" (2007), "One-Hit Wonder Cows" (2008), "The Bovines in Blue" (2009), and "Great Works of Cow Literature" (2010).

Chick-fil-A Classic

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The Chick-fil-A Classic is a high school basketball tournament held in Columbia, South Carolina. The tournament is in its eighth year of operation and features nationally ranked players and teams. The tournament is co-sponsored by the Greater Columbia Educational Advancement Foundation (GCEAF) which provides scholarships to high school seniors in the greater Columbia area.

Dwarf House

The Chick-fil-A Dwarf Houses are a full-service variation of the typical Chick-fil-A restaurant. In addition to the full-service dining area, Dwarf Houses also have the normal fast-food service area as well as a drive-through. The menu at a Dwarf House is similar to the standard menu, but also features steakburgers and/or hamburgers, as well as deep-fried pies, in flavors such as peach, apple, and sweet potato.

The Chick-fil-A Dwarf House has a "dwarf-sized" front door that children and some little people can use to enter.

The original Dwarf House in Hapeville, Georgia, is open 24 hours a day, six days a week. It closes at 4:00 AM Sunday morning, and re-opens at 6:00 AM on Monday. It has a larger dine-in menu than the other Dwarf House locations and it has a seven dwarfs display in the back of the restaurant.

Truett's Grill

In 1996, the first Truett's Grill was opened in Morrow, Georgia. The second location opened in 2003 in McDonough, Georgia, and a third location opened in 2006 in Griffin, Georgia. Similar to the Chick-fil-A Dwarf Houses, these independently owned restaurants offer traditional, sit-down dining and expanded menu selections in a diner-themed atmosphere.

Religious connections

Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy is a devout Christian who has taught Sunday School for over 51 years and whose religious beliefs permeate the company to this day. The company's official statement of corporate purpose says that the business exists "to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A." The chain invests heavily in community services (especially for children and teenagers) and scholarships. Cathy's beliefs are also responsible for one of the chain's distinctive features: All Chick-fil-A locations (company-owned and franchised, whether in a mall or freestanding) are closed on Sundays.

Our decision to close on Sunday was our way of honoring God and directing our attention to things more important than our business. If it took seven days to make a living with a restaurant, then we needed to be in some other line of work. Through the years, I have never wavered from that position.

— S. Truett Cathy

Chick-fil-A has promoted religious groups via toys and CDs included in children's meals, much as movie studios promote new movies via McDonald's Happy Meal toys. These have ranged from including toys from the Christian television series VeggieTales in children's meals to including Financial Peace for Kids children's books by Christian financial guru Dave Ramsey and CDs from the Christian radio program Adventures in Odyssey, as children's meal incentives. The last show mentioned is produced by the radio division of Focus on the Family, and typically heard on Christian radio stations.

Chick-fil-A and Focus on the Family also have a history of cross-promotion. Chick-fil-A has also sponsored meetings by the group All Pro Dad; All Pro Dad is a group with affiliations with Family First a non-profit organization based out of Tampa, Florida started by Mark Merrill and Tony Dungy. Chick-fil-A has also directly sponsored other religious campaigns. One of the groups sponsored by Chick-fil-A is Athletes in Action, a sports missionary arm of the Campus Crusade for Christ.

Another link between Chick-fil-A and religious groups includes promotion of National Bible Week. S. Truett Cathy is the chair of the National Bible Week Committee.

Truett Cathy is also heavily involved in the WinShape Foundation, a non-profit organization which was started in 1984 with its goal to "shape winners" by offering summer camps, retreats, foster care, and other services.

In New Jersey, they give support to Choices of the Heart.

Chick-fil-A's connection to Christianity has been brought before the courts when Aziz Latif, a Houston-based Muslim employee for 6 years, sued the company in 2002 for firing him, alleging that he was fired for his religious beliefs when he had refused to take part in an employee prayer. The suit was settled on undisclosed terms.

Chick-fil-A received prime product placement in the 2008 Christian-themed film Fireproof, in a scene in which the main character, working to save his troubled marriage, soothes his wife with the company's chicken noodle soup.

Current products

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Chick-fil-A's menu includes the classic chicken sandwich as well as a deluxe version, 8 and 12 nugget entrees and combos, 3 and 4 chicken strip entrees and combos, cool wraps, chicken salad sandwiches, chargrilled chicken sandwiches, as well as grilled/fried chicken salads. They also serve lemon pie, ice cream, hand-spun milk shakes, fudge nut brownies, fruit cups, and their own brand of lemonade. A kids' meal includes 4 or 6-count nuggets or a 1 or 2-count chicken strips, with choice of waffle fries or a fruit cup. On their breakfast menu, they feature chicken biscuit variations including a bacon or sausage, egg and cheese biscuit; as well as chick-n-minis, Chick-fil-A nuggets in small yeast rolls, available in 3- or 4-counts. On June 7, 2010, Chick-fil-A released the spicy chicken sandwich and spicy chicken deluxe sandwich, which includes pepper-jack cheese.

References

1. "Company Fact Sheet." Chick-fil-A. Retrieved on May 19, 2009.
2. "City Maps." City of College Park. Retrieved on May 25, 2009.
3. "Nightline(ABC-TV) presents: Chik-fil-A Wins Customers...by closing". September 23, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
4. "Chick-fil-A". Chick-fil-A. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
5. ^ "Chick-fil-A". Chick-fil-A. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
6. "Chick-fil-A". Chick-fil-A. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
7. Marilyn Odesser-Torpey. "Reaching Out to NASCAR Nation". QSR.
8. "Chick-fil-A, Dr Pepper Give Fans a Million Reasons to 'Eat Mor Chikin'". SEC Sports News.
9. Joe Guy Collier (2008-07-09). "Dress-as-a-cow day reflects Chick-fil-A's 'have fun' culture". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
10. Ginny Skal (April 13, 2009). "New Chick-fil-A Billboard Misses Chance to Connect".
11. "Chick-fil-A Cows Spoof Literature Classics for 2010 Calendar". Reuters. 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
12. "Welcome to 8th Annual Chick-Fil-A Classic.com". Chick-fil-aclassic.com. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
13. "GCEAF". Chick-Fil-A Classic. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
14. "Truett's Grill". Truettsgrill.com. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
15. "Chick-fil-A: Truett's Grill - Griffin". Cfarestaurant.com. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
16. "Chick-fil-A: Truett's Grill - McDonough". Cfarestaurant.com. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
17. "Chick-fil-A: Truett's Grill - Morrow". Cfarestaurant.com. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
18. "Chick-fil-A". Chick-fil-A. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
19. "About Truett." S Truett Cathy. Retrieved on May 26, 2009.
20. "Focus on the Family, Digital Praise Spice Up Chick-fil-A Kid's Meals Through 'Adventures In Odyssey' CD Giveaway".
21. "Press Kits". Family First. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
22. Ruggless, Ron (2002). "Muslim sues Chick-fil-A over on-the-job prayer". Nation's Restaurant News.
23. The Cult of Chick-fil-A

External links

• Chick-fil-A
• Chick-fil-A at Facebook

• Companies established in 1946
• Companies based in Georgia (U.S. state)
• Privately held companies of the United States
• Family businesses
• Fast-food poultry restaurants
• Fast-food chains of the United States