Why does Chick-fil-A avoid the Northeast

[Buffaboy]

I have family down south and since I was a little tyke my parents would take me to Chick-fil-A when we go there. Now, I'm 19. Why is it that they just now open a location in NYC yet they're the biggest chicken chain in the country? And I'll probably be like 25 by the time they open in Buffalo.

[Pete from Boston]

Fried chicken is a lot bigger down south.

[TXtoNJ]

Different corporate culture than what you find in most parts of the Northeast. I'd also guess the gay marriage controversy slowed down expansion efforts up there.

[oscar]

Chick-fil-A's not opening on Sundays might also hurt it less in the southern states than elsewhere.

[Zeffy]

I'd also guess the gay marriage controversy slowed down expansion efforts up there.

Well, it has completely made me avoid every Chick-fil-A there is when I would actively seek them out before.

[TravelingBethelite]

Hello! Check Connecticut. 2 new ones opened here in the course of 3 months in the Danbury area, and they seem to be wildly popular, at least from what I can tell.

[Buffaboy]

I'd also guess the gay marriage controversy slowed down expansion efforts up there.

Well, it has completely made me avoid every Chick-fil-A there is when I would actively seek them out before.

I don't support their platforms but somehow I forgave the fiasco. Other companies I have stopped patronizing for similar reasons.

[AlexandriaVA]

Why do Jewish delis avoid the southeast?

People in the northeast aren't baptists or methodists, which to my personal observation tends to be the overwhelming customer base for CFA.

[SteveG1988]

Tons in NJ and PA?

[Rothman]

I personally think it is due to the political blowback from the whole gay marriage fiasco and ongoing sporadic reports of it being a restaurant for homophobes.

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/downtown/2012/07/boston_mayor_thomas_m_meninos.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/chick-fil-a-anti-gay-controversy-employees-speak-out_n_1729968.html

Still, it's a yummy sammich.

Popeye's, which is up here in a significant number, is a poor substitute.

[Rothman]

Why do Jewish delis avoid the southeast?

Because Southerners can't afford the yummy goodness that is a pastrami on rye with mustard.

[cl94]

Combination of politics and culture. Having stuff closed on Sunday doesn't work as well up here outside of Bergen County, largely because people here are either less religious or follow a different religion. Mainline Protestants and Catholics (who make up the vast majority of Northeast religious folk) don't spend all day in church and actually want to do stuff on Sundays. I probably do most of my shopping Sundays, especially when I'm not watching a football game. The company officially follows Christian (specifically Southern Baptist) principles, which doesn't always settle well. The same-sex marriage crap struck a chord in the northeast and many (myself included) refuse to patronize the chain because of that.

Tons in NJ and PA?

PA isn't really even typical northeast, if you ask me. It's a mix of Appalachia, midwest, and mid-Atlantic.

I personally think it is due to the political blowback from the whole gay marriage fiasco and ongoing sporadic reports of it being a restaurant for homophobes.

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/downtown/2012/07/boston_mayor_thomas_m_meninos.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/chick-fil-a-anti-gay-controversy-employees-speak-out_n_1729968.html

Still, it's a yummy sammich.

Popeye's, which is up here in a significant number, is a poor substitute.

Popeyes is wonderful. A hell of a lot better than KFC. I will go out of my way to eat at Popeyes and I may just go broke this spring with one being a block away from RPI.

[jp the roadgeek]

Hello! Check Connecticut. 2 new ones opened here in the course of 3 months in the Danbury area, and they seem to be wildly popular, at least from what I can tell.

4 in CT now, all freestanding.  Also in Wallingford and Enfield.  Few in the Boston/Nashua area in malls.  Jimmy John's, Hardee's, CiCi's, and (only one location in Springfield, MA) Golden Corral seem to be avoiding New England, yet you see and hear ads all the time.  Checkers tried a location in Bristol, CT, but it failed miserably, and Sonic opened nearby anyway.   

[jeffandnicole]

What? Part II

First, you state that there's a large concentration of "Don't Walk" signage in NYC when they were almost all converted to the hand signal over a decade ago, and now you claim there are no Chick-fil-a's in the Northeast. Just because they aren't in your region doesn't mean they're not in the Northeast. Take a look at their location guide.

As for the whole gay fiasco, try to find some actual proof that it slowed expansion.  In the following article from 2014, it mentions that their business model places them in the suburbs, not cities. And they will be expanding into cities like NYC, Chicago & Los Angeles, of which 2 out of 3 are most certainly not located in the Northeast.

Another important little detail: Their stores average nearly 30% more sales per year than McDonalds. All the more impressive considering their stores are only open 6 days of the week, and typically open later and close earlier.

[Buffaboy]

What? Part II

First, you state that there's a large concentration of "Don't Walk" signage in NYC when they were almost all converted to the hand signal over a decade ago, and now you claim there are no Chick-fil-a's in the Northeast. Just because they aren't in your region doesn't mean they're not in the Northeast. Take a look at their location guide.

As for the whole gay fiasco, try to find some actual proof that it slowed expansion.  In the following article from 2014, it mentions that their business model places them in the suburbs, not cities. And they will be expanding into cities like NYC, Chicago & Los Angeles, of which 2 out of 3 are most certainly not located in the Northeast.

Another important little detail: Their stores average nearly 30% more sales per year than McDonalds. All the more impressive considering their stores are only open 6 days of the week, and typically open later and close earlier.

I don't get out of Upstate NY very often, and I have no reason at all to go downstate (unless I had time and $$$ for a roadmeet). I could only assume NYC has Don't Walk signage. Secondly, this chicken chain just opened its first NYC location last week, and NYC is part of the Northeast, so AFAIK they don't have as big of a presence.

Combination of politics and culture. Having stuff closed on Sunday doesn't work as well up here outside of Bergen County, largely because people here are either less religious or follow a different religion. Mainline Protestants and Catholics (who make up the vast majority of Northeast religious folk) don't spend all day in church and actually want to do stuff on Sundays. I probably do most of my shopping Sundays, especially when I'm not watching a football game. The company officially follows Christian (specifically Southern Baptist) principles, which doesn't always settle well. The same-sex marriage crap struck a chord in the northeast and many (myself included) refuse to patronize the chain because of that.

This sums it up pretty good.

[realjd]

Why is any regional restaurant chain not nationwide? Growing too rapidly is a good way to kill even a successful business.

Supply chain logistics for a company the size of Chick-fil-A are incredibly difficult. Slow, steady growth is much lower risk from that standpoint. It lets them work out supply issues slowly over time without impacting a huge number of restaurants.

Look at it this way: say CFA contracts with a poultry supplier in the northeast. The supplier says they can provide chicken for 150 restaurants. CFA then opens 150 restaurants all at once. If demand is higher than expected, or the new supplier can't actually produce that much chicken, restaurants will be without food. If CFA opens a few restaurants each month, it lets them better gauge regional demand and mitigates the risk of a supplier not performing. If the supplier says 150 restaurants but can only actually supply 75, opening a few each month lets them more slowly reach that limit and when they exceed it, it only impacts a few stores.

CFA has been growing regionally. They just haven't gotten to the NE yet.

Politics has nothing to do with it. They have a successful presence in Southern California, one of the most liberal parts of the country.

[bandit957]

I wish Chick-fil-A would avoid the rest of the country too.

[Rothman]

I don't completely understand the not-open-on-Sunday-hurts-business-in-the-Northeast argument. Is it just a matter that more people pick Sunday to be their "let's go get fast food day" and are, therefore, less likely to go out again on the remaining weekdays?

[jakeroot]

Chick-fil-A finally opened up three permanent locations in the Seattle area this year. So far, they have been incredibly successful (it would seem, at least). And truth be told, Washington/Oregon is far less religious than even the Northeast. If CFA can succeed here, I bet it would succeed just fine in New England. There was some initial protest, but most folks seem to have backed off.

The closed-on-Sundays thing is pretty strange though. Very, very few things aren't open on Sunday around here. I have on more than one occasion (on a Sunday) driven to my local CFA and almost walked up to the doors before realizing they were closed.

[mariethefoxy]

Apparently theres one that opening on Long Island also in Port Jeff.

[jeffandnicole]

Will we please knock off the "Chick-fil-a" is not in the Northeast.   Amazing how one person can mis-speak about something, and it carries like wildfire.

A quick check of their location finder reveals stores in these states

2 stores in NH
4 in MA
2 in NY
1 in RI
65 in PA
29 in NJ

Also, a quick check of the location finder reveals that they don't a presence in these non-northeast states either:

Montana
North Dakota
Hawaii
Alaska


And going back to the gay marriage thing: Yes, people may not visit the store because of that.  Then again, people may not visit the store because there's no restaurants around them.  When the story first came out, I remember people using their internet rage to tell others they are boycotting them.

Many even said that they would boycott them even though they've never been to one.  Or, that they never heard of the restaurant.  Or, that if they were traveling, they would make sure to boycott them.  The makings of a successful boycott seems to be that they will most likely never pass by one anyway. 

So, in the end, no one has any proof whatsoever that they haven't built a restaurant in the northeast because of the issues from several years ago. 

[Mapmikey]

Why is any regional restaurant chain not nationwide? Growing too rapidly is a good way to kill even a successful business.

This.

Other than Five Guys I can't think of a recent chain that went from a few local places (Northern Va in their case) into full blast nationwide very quickly.

CFA has always been on a slow expansion philosophy.  It wasn't that many years ago it was difficult to find one outside of a mall, even in the deep south.

I don't see the relative CFA absence in the northeast any different than Culvers being largely absent in the southeast.

Mike

[spooky]

Popeyes is wonderful. A hell of a lot better than KFC. I will go out of my way to eat at Popeyes and I may just go broke this spring with one being a block away from RPI.

I spent 5 years at RPI and ate at that Popeyes exactly once.

[1995hoo]

I don't follow why a place not being open on Sunday would be a reason to avoid that place on other days.

[formulanone]

Why do Jewish delis avoid the southeast?

Because Southerners can't afford the yummy goodness that is a pastrami on rye with mustard.

There's always Noshville.

I wish Chick-fil-A would avoid the rest of the country too.

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