Chick-fil-A CEO responds to whether it will ever be open on Sunday and gives surprising response
Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy has addressed whether the chain would ever open on Sundays and why its firm stance on it is so 'important'.
Chick-fil-A is the third largest chain in the US, just behind McDonald's and Starbucks.
However, unlike the other chains, there is one day which it has never been open to customers on - Sundays.
Why? Well, CEO Andrew Cathy, who's great-grandfather and his brother first started the business in 1946, has since shared an insight into the company's history and decisions, alongside whether it will ever open up on Sunday's.
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Chick-fil-A's first sandwich was perfected in 1964 and the recipe hasn't changed since and that's not the only thing that's stayed the same at the restaurant either.
The company remains a private family-run business despite a global expansion, Cathy becoming CEO in 2021 following after his father and grandfather.
Since the restaurant first opened as a 'little restaurant in Atlanta', it has never been open on a Sunday, Cathy - who's family are Southern Baptists - revealing to TODAY: "It was very common back in the 1940s that a lot of places were closed on Sunday and so they wanted to do that. They wanted to have a chance to do that, to go to church and for others to take some rest."
But what about looking into the future?
Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy says it will 'never' open restaurants on Sundays
Well, Chick-fil-A employees can breathe a sigh of relief, because Cathy doesn't have plans for the company to start opening on Sundays any time soon.
He said: "It’s never something that we’re entertaining. It’s just too important for us.
"We’re not trying to scrape out every penny that we possibly can, and that’s one of the things about being a private business and a family business is we can make those types of investments because we know it means so much to our team members."
Elsewhere in the interview, Cathy reflected on religion as being a driving force for the company.
He said: "It is our anchor. In the sense of what our corporate purpose states is that we're in business to glorify God, about being a faithful steward to all that's entrusted to us, and have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A."
However, this corporate purpose faced backlash given Cathy's father's public comment against gay marriage.
Also addressing the future of pricing its items, the Chick-fil-A CEO noted how 'cautious' they're being.
"Even though our costs are going up, we've got to be careful knowing the consumers are making that trade off," he said. "What we want more than anything is if customers do choose to eat with us, now if they feel like they got a great value for what they paid for this experience."
Cathy added they won't be shrinking portions anytime soon either.
Topics: US News, Food and Drink, Religion
Poppy Bilderbeck