Chick-fil-A Outlines Expansion Plans for 2010

Chick-fil-A Outlines Expansion Plans for 2010
February 04, 2010

Atlanta-based fast-food chain Chick-fil-A ended 2009 on a positive note by marking the company’s 42nd year of consecutive sales growth. The chain reported 2009 system-wide sales of $3.217 billion, representing an 8.6 percent increase over the chain’s 2008 overall sales performance and a same-store sales increase of 2.52 percent. In addition to surpassing the $3 billion annual sales mark for the first time in early December 2009, Chick-fil-A opened 83 new restaurants in 2009, including 69 standalone restaurants, one mall location and 13 licensed outlets (college campuses, hospitals, airports, businesses and industrial sites). In 2010, Chick-fil-A will launch several initiatives to continue its growth, including plans to open 78 new locations--66 of which will be standalone locations, two mall/in-line restaurants and 10 licensed outlets. Chick-fil-A will also celebrate its first foray into the greater Chicago area with a standalone restaurant expected to open in Aurora in the third quarter. In addition to building new stores, Chick-fil-A will dedicate reinvestment resources to renovate 86 of its existing restaurants in an effort to enhance the guest experience and introduce new efficiencies that will help attract and accommodate greater sales volumes. “With an extremely heavy dose of what has served us well in recent years, 2010 will be a banner year for Chick-fil-A; perhaps our most notable year ever,” said Dan Cathy, president and COO of Chick-fil-A. “We are enhancing our menu with new products, entering new markets, reinvesting in our current restaurants and giving back to our communities.”