Chick-fil-A opens N.Y. location

Chick-fil-A opened its first free-standing restaurant in New York City on Oct. 3. The new location is a three-store, 5,000-square-foot restaurant near Herald Square in midtown Manhattan. It’s the company’s largest restaurant,


Time

reported.

The company, which generated revenues of more than $5.7 billion last year, expects to grow by another $1 billion this year, the


Time


article said. In 2013, it surpassed KFC as the U.S.’s largest fast-food chicken chain, although it operates less than half the number of stores and is closed on Sundays, the report noted.

Observers are wondering how Chick-fil-A will fare in New York, citing potential culture clashes because of CEO Dan Cathy’s 2012 comments denouncing same-sex marriage. The company’s plans to open a restaurant at Denver International Airport were stalled, though eventually approved, because city council members were worried the company would use profits to “fuel discrimination,” the


Time


article said.

Cathy ultimately said the company would stop engaging in political debates, the


Time


report said, noting that the company did not comment when the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide.

David Farmer, Chick-fil-A’s vice president for menu strategy,

told the




New York Times



that the company expects its Manhattan store to have more traffic than its other stores. Another Chick-fil-A is scheduled to open next year at 46th Street and Avenue of the Americas, the


Times


article said.

The


New York Times


report said the company does not ask prospective employees about their sexual orientation, and its foundation has not donated to organizations opposing same-sex marriage since the 2012 controversy. Restaurant industry analysts told the


Times


that the company’s strong values may be helping its reputation with customers.  (Sources:


Time


, Oct. 2, 2015;


New York Times


, Sept. 30, 2015.)