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Chick-fil-A made a bit of news Tuesday, though if you compare it with the tide of coverage over the company president’s anti-gay-marriage stance, it was barely a ripple.
According to figures from a research firm, the privately held company is worth about $4.5 billion, Bloomberg News reports. Furthermore, Bloomberg says the sons of Chick-fil-A founder Samuel Truett Cathy, Dan and Donald Cathy, each own one-third of the company, making them “hidden billionaires” in the words of the article.
Though the elder Cathy appears on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans (at $1.1 billion), neither of his sons does.
Dan Cathy made headlines when his position against same-sex marriage was widely reported a couple of weeks ago.
It remains to be seen whether the controversy will have any effect, negative or positive, on chicken sandwich sales, but Chick-fil-A — which has 59 restaurants in Maryland — ranked as the industry leader in sales per outlet. With an average gross of $2.9 million per restaurant in 2011, Chick-fil-A beat No. 2 McDonald’s by $400,000.
If I want a chicken sandwich, I’ll order one at church.
Pretty incredible business numbers when one considers they close every Sunday. I don’t question their sincerity/integrity – they say closing on Sundays is so their employees can go to church – it certainly is a good marketing technique, distinguishing them from their competition. In fact, I often eat their because their employees are given Sundays off. Whether for worship or rest, I think that’s pretty cool in our fast paced culture.