Chick-Fil-A and the NY Thruway

[hbelkins]

https://www.wkyt.com/2023/12/18/new-bill-would-require-chick-fil-a-be-open-sundays/?outputType=apps

This made the news in both Lexington and Louisville.

My comment is, the Thruway Authority knew Chick-Fil-A's hours when they signed the contract with them.

[RobbieL2415]

Is the contract with Chic-Fil-A or a franchise?

I'm thinking a possible cop-out solution to this would be for the franchise to just say, "OK then, all Thruway Chick-Fil-As will be Popeye's Chicken instead."

The franchise owner could make their stores whatever they want.

[GaryV]

Provided the franchise owner holds both Chick-fil-a and Popeye's agreements. It still would require an expenditure to update the locations, signs at least plus any other branding.

Else, I would expect that Chick-fil-a locations would have a good argument that their franchises along the Thruway should be bought out, with compensation for loss of business and [partial] refunds for initial site preparation.

[jeffandnicole]

Not mentioned in the article:  The Bill states this applies to future contracts, not current contracts.

My comment is, the Thruway Authority knew Chick-Fil-A's hours when they signed the contract with them.

And it's probably not even between the restaurant and the Authority.  The Authority has a contract with Sweetgreen to manage and operate the Service Plazas, which is a 33 year contract ending around 2050. Sweetgreen is responsible for contracting with individual stores, not the Thruway Authority. Probably nowhere in the agreements between the Authority and Sweetgreens did it call for at least 1 restaurant per service plaza to be open 7 days a week.  Or the agreements allowed the convenience store to double as the 'restaurant', giving motorists an option for food and drink.

That's why this bill states "for future contracts", because it was probably realized there's nothing that can be done under current agreements.  While the media is trying to make it appear CFA is the bad guy here, CFA isn't doing anything wrong outside of their agreement based on what was permitted at the signing of the contracts.

[webny99]

^It's Applegreen by the way.

There was already some discussion of this in the Thruway thread, and being one of those topics that can only go one direction, I'm not necessarily sure it needed to be put on its own pedestal, but here's hoping for the best...

[kalvado]

Provided the franchise owner holds both Chick-fil-a and Popeye's agreements. It still would require an expenditure to update the locations, signs at least plus any other branding.

Else, I would expect that Chick-fil-a locations would have a good argument that their franchises along the Thruway should be bought out, with compensation for loss of business and [partial] refunds for initial site preparation.

Yes, there are both Popeyes and CFA restaurants in different service areas. Moreover, looking at the map it almost like one or the other was chosen to keep certain groups of travellers happy, I.e. whoever planned that specifically was aware of possible issues

[1995hoo]

The one that really struck me as odd was Chick-Fil-A having a location at the Atlanta Falcons' stadium, though I guess because an MLS team plays home games there the stadium hosts more non-NFL events than it does NFL games.

I appreciate jeffandnicole providing more context on the Thruway issue because I heard about this on the news last night (local news, not national) and, of course, there was no mention made about it applying only to future contracts. But then, we were watching an NBC affiliate, so no doubt they want to paint Chick-Fil-A as evil.

[Jim]

... there was no mention made about it applying only to future contracts. But then, we were watching an NBC affiliate, so no doubt they want to paint Chick-Fil-A as evil.

Even locally, the reports on this (especially headlines) have been ridiculously misleading.  You'd think the bill was requiring state troopers to escort CFA employees immediately to work on Sundays to force them to sell chicken.

[webny99]

That said, I do agree with the premise that service area restaurants should be open 7 days a week. It's laughable for them not to be, and that has nothing to do with CFA, it's just common sense. Especially for weekend days (Fri-Sun) and especially for service areas with only one or two restaurants to begin with.

[The Ghostbuster]

I usually see Chick-Fil-A commercials during college football games. There are two Chick-Fil-A locations here in Madison, but I've never been to one (my mother doesn't like their political stances).

[jeffandnicole]

^It's Applegreen by the way.

There was already some discussion of this in the Thruway thread, and being one of those topics that can only go one direction, I'm not necessarily sure it needed to be put on its own pedestal, but here's hoping for the best...

In something else I was writing, I said it correctly.  I don't know why I said Sweetgreen here.

[kalvado]

I usually see Chick-Fil-A commercials during college football games. There are two Chick-Fil-A locations here in Madison, but I've never been to one (my mother doesn't like their political stances).

are you sure you're actually 39 as the forum says?

[kphoger]

That said, I do agree with the premise that service area restaurants should be open 7 days a week. It's laughable for them not to be, and that has nothing to do with CFA, it's just common sense. Especially for weekend days (Fri-Sun) and especially for service areas with only one or two restaurants to begin with.

I agree.  In fact, I think it's arguably more important for service area restaurants to be open week-ends than on week-days.

But I wonder if it has to do with my age.  I'm too young to remember long-distance travel when a large majority of establishments were closed Sundays.  I wonder:  was this sort of situation more common and acceptable back in the 1970s or whatever?

[vdeane]

Not mentioned in the article:  The Bill states this applies to future contracts, not current contracts.

My comment is, the Thruway Authority knew Chick-Fil-A's hours when they signed the contract with them.

And it's probably not even between the restaurant and the Authority.  The Authority has a contract with Sweetgreen to manage and operate the Service Plazas, which is a 33 year contract ending around 2050. Sweetgreen is responsible for contracting with individual stores, not the Thruway Authority. Probably nowhere in the agreements between the Authority and Sweetgreens did it call for at least 1 restaurant per service plaza to be open 7 days a week.  Or the agreements allowed the convenience store to double as the 'restaurant', giving motorists an option for food and drink.

That's why this bill states "for future contracts", because it was probably realized there's nothing that can be done under current agreements.  While the media is trying to make it appear CFA is the bad guy here, CFA isn't doing anything wrong outside of their agreement based on what was permitted at the signing of the contracts.

The contract does require one "food concept" to be open 24/7 at all of them bar the "level 1" service areas (Schuyler and DeWitt), but the Applegreen stores count as a "food concept" since they sell cold subs, pre-made pizzas in a warmer, and hot dogs on rollers (except at Schuyler, which only has snack food, frozen breakfast sandwiches, and souvenirs).

... there was no mention made about it applying only to future contracts. But then, we were watching an NBC affiliate, so no doubt they want to paint Chick-Fil-A as evil.

Even locally, the reports on this (especially headlines) have been ridiculously misleading.  You'd think the bill was requiring state troopers to escort CFA employees immediately to work on Sundays to force them to sell chicken.

And then there's the NY Post article, which made it appear that this was retaliation over... political... issues.

[ran4sh]

The one that really struck me as odd was Chick-Fil-A having a location at the Atlanta Falcons' stadium, though I guess because an MLS team plays home games there the stadium hosts more non-NFL events than it does NFL games.

I appreciate jeffandnicole providing more context on the Thruway issue because I heard about this on the news last night (local news, not national) and, of course, there was no mention made about it applying only to future contracts. But then, we were watching an NBC affiliate, so no doubt they want to paint Chick-Fil-A as evil.

CFA's solution there, is that for Sunday events, a different business uses the spaces that would be used by CFA for other events (in addition to MLS, there are several college football games there).

A solution like that, would also work for toll road service plazas if they really require the space to be open for business all 7 days of the week.

[jeffandnicole]

The one that really struck me as odd was Chick-Fil-A having a location at the Atlanta Falcons' stadium, though I guess because an MLS team plays home games there the stadium hosts more non-NFL events than it does NFL games.

I appreciate jeffandnicole providing more context on the Thruway issue because I heard about this on the news last night (local news, not national) and, of course, there was no mention made about it applying only to future contracts. But then, we were watching an NBC affiliate, so no doubt they want to paint Chick-Fil-A as evil.

CFA's solution there, is that for Sunday events, a different business uses the spaces that would be used by CFA for other events (in addition to MLS, there are several college football games there).

A solution like that, would also work for toll road service plazas if they really require the space to be open for business all 7 days of the week.

A conversion would be much easier in a stadium though, where concession products can be made in a nearby stand and brought over, or plenty of time to cover or change the Chick-fil-A logos as theres rarely a game on a Saturday or Monday when the stadium is also used Sunday. They wouldn't have the ability to make these changes in a service plaza where the restaurant would be open well into the evening Saturday night, and has to reopen by Monday morning, and the cooking equipment is set to CFA standards.

[ran4sh]

The one that really struck me as odd was Chick-Fil-A having a location at the Atlanta Falcons' stadium, though I guess because an MLS team plays home games there the stadium hosts more non-NFL events than it does NFL games.

I appreciate jeffandnicole providing more context on the Thruway issue because I heard about this on the news last night (local news, not national) and, of course, there was no mention made about it applying only to future contracts. But then, we were watching an NBC affiliate, so no doubt they want to paint Chick-Fil-A as evil.

CFA's solution there, is that for Sunday events, a different business uses the spaces that would be used by CFA for other events (in addition to MLS, there are several college football games there).

A solution like that, would also work for toll road service plazas if they really require the space to be open for business all 7 days of the week.

A conversion would be much easier in a stadium though, where concession products can be made in a nearby stand and brought over, or plenty of time to cover or change the Chick-fil-A logos as theres rarely a game on a Saturday or Monday when the stadium is also used Sunday. They wouldn't have the ability to make these changes in a service plaza where the restaurant would be open well into the evening Saturday night, and has to reopen by Monday morning, and the cooking equipment is set to CFA standards.

I'm not familiar with the details of how these specific plazas operate, but the ones I've seen, most of the restaurants/business close at a normal time in the evening with only 1 or 2 being open overnight. The time when CFA is closed should be enough to switch over on Saturday night and Sunday night/Monday morning, but if not, then they could close early on Saturday or open late on Monday, especially considering there would be other restaurants available that stay open the normal hours.

And sure, there is "rarely" both a Saturday and Sunday game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta Falcons), but there are several major events when there is such daily usage. For example, the NFL and/or the Falcons are ok with having a home game on Sunday the day after the SEC football championship on Saturday.

[mariethefoxy]

Isn't there one or two service plazas on the thruway upstate where the only option is Chick Fil A and the Random Mini Mart? They should never have had the only real food option on those smaller service plazas be a place that isn't open 7 days a week. I don't know why Burger King or mcDonalds couldn't have used instead. It's definitely an oversight that whoever in the Thruway Authority signed the contracts to Applegreen to have this happen.

And thats to say nothing about a progressive place like NY having Chick Fil A in the rest stops in the first place.

[vdeane]

Chittenango is like that.  Applegreen, Starbucks, and CFA.  Nothing else.

[webny99]

Chittenango is like that.  Applegreen, Starbucks, and CFA.  Nothing else.

With Chittenango already being pretty clearly the worst of the redesigned service areas, no full restaurant 1 day a week just adds insult to injury.

[froggie]

I'll go ahead and say it.  Between the concession "rebuilds and changes" and the EZPass situation that begins in 8 days, it's very clear that the Thruway Authority doesn't care about travelers...only their toll dollars.

[kalvado]

I'll go ahead and say it.  Between the concession "rebuilds and changes" and the EZPass situation that begins in 8 days, it's very clear that the Thruway Authority doesn't care about travelers...only their toll dollars.

Welcome to the world of business.
What's the deal with ezpass though?

[jeffandnicole]

Now, it is possible that the Thruway and Applegreen miscalculated the issue with using CFA as a vendor.  The NJTA has at least 1 service plaza on both the Turnpike and Parkway with a CFA, but haven't had the uproar that the Thruway currently has.  However, in both instances there's at least one other main restaurant operating at each plaza.  Applegreen screwed up by using CFA as their *only* restaurant at Chittenango.  If they only used CFAs at locations with 2 or more restaurants, the problem is minimized...although still leaves motorists grumbling that a service area restaurant is still closed on what's often a major travel day.

Taking a quick look around, it doesn't appear the PA, OH, DE, MD & FL Turnpikes use CFA as a vendor.

[kalvado]

Now, it is possible that the Thruway and Applegreen miscalculated the issue with using CFA as a vendor.  The NJTA has at least 1 service plaza on both the Turnpike and Parkway with a CFA, but haven't had the uproar that the Thruway currently has.  However, in both instances there's at least one other main restaurant operating at each plaza.  Applegreen screwed up by using CFA as their *only* restaurant at Chittenango.  If they only used CFAs at locations with 2 or more restaurants, the problem is minimized...although still leaves motorists grumbling that a service area restaurant is still closed on what's often a major travel day.

Taking a quick look around, it doesn't appear the PA, OH, DE, MD & FL Turnpikes use CFA as a vendor.

There is certainly political revenge element here.
But using CFA as the primary anchor facility isn't great. Even 8f there is a Panera, it's not exactly same category of fast food.
I wonder how things would settle, after all directionality of weekend traffic is probably taken into consideration and CFA Sunday impact may be limited

[Mr. Matté]

Now, it is possible that the Thruway and Applegreen miscalculated the issue with using CFA as a vendor.  The NJTA has at least 1 service plaza on both the Turnpike and Parkway with a CFA, but haven't had the uproar that the Thruway currently has.

There was only a little bit of uproar from the Bloomfield, NJ local pols at the time because of the company's founder's viewpoints when the Connie Chung / Brookdale South Rest Area on the GS Parkway was announced to be redone (story from 2022) but not because of the Sunday closing. There's a Burger King there too so if a traveler wants price hiked greasy food on a Sunday, the option is there.

This story also made it to a political forum I read as well (mostly users from around the country with some international users), but the pro-/anti-bill seems to be split even bipartisanally. Of course, they aren't as aware of the nuances that we on this board would know about the rest area sizes, how it's only for future contracts, etc. Some of the arguments there not mentioned here about how it might be better for the workers to be closed on a Sunday, first amendment, and also the general complaint about "When the Thruway opened, they said the tollbooths would only remain until the bonds were paid off."