NEW YORK — People in the Big Apple usually set trends, but today they begin playing catch-up in discovering the charm of a simple fried chicken sandwich.
Or so Chick-fil-A hopes. The Atlanta-based fast-food operator, which has grown into the nation’s biggest chicken chain, opens its first store in Manhattan.
The company’s debut on a busy corner in the fashionable Garment District finally puts Chick-fil-A onto the biggest stage in the nation — one where its “my pleasure” southern manners will be tested.
Employees at the new store have been trained to distinguish between “fughetaboutit” locals who just want their food fast, hold the chitchat, and tourists or business visitors more open to an extra pleasantry or two.
“There’s a reason they say, ‘In a New York minute,’ ” said David Farmer, the company’s vice president of product strategy and development.
The results could help drive Chick-fil-A strategy. If the three-level store does well in such an ultra-urban, international setting — not the typical locale for a suburban chain whose drive-thrus generate the most revenue — it could boost Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy’s ambitions to expand internationally to cities like London and Paris. The company’s only prior overseas effort was a brief, failed foray into South Africa in the 1990s.
More than just food and service play into New York success, though. For some people here, the Chick-fil-A name is still associated with Cathy’s remarks three years ago opposing gay marriage. Cathy, who told an interviewer from a religious publication that he supports “the biblical definition of the family unit,” touched off massive nationwide protests by gay marriage supporters and faced calls from leaders in Boston and Chicago to quash opening new stores.
Supporters of the company, however — including some opposed to same-sex unions — followed the protests with an even bigger turnout in what was dubbed “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.” Lines of cars snaked out of the chain’s parking lots, crowds packed the insides of stores and Chick-fil-A had its best one-day sales ever.
Since then, Cathy has refrained from wading into issues and the chain pulled its funding from organizations associated with opposing gay marriage.
In a 2014 interview with the AJC, Cathy said, “Every leader goes through different phases of maturity, growth and development and it helps by (recognizing) the mistakes that you make. And you learn from those mistakes. If not, you’re just a fool. I’m thankful that I lived through it and I learned a lot from it.”
Still, the controversy lingers. Most recently members of Denver’s City Council stalled Chick-fil-A’s plan to open at the city’s airport because of discrimination concerns, though the opening seems to be back on track. On the day the Supreme Court upheld gay marriage, U.S. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana lamented in a tweet that it was a “Chick-fil-A” kind of day.
Cathy will not be at Saturday’s New York opening. A spokeswoman said he has reduced the number of openings he attends, preferring to let the focus be on store owners.
Embracing southern food
From a gustatory standpoint, many say Chick-fil-A’s entrance couldn’t be better timed. Restaurants throughout the city are embracing Southern food, and chicken is king.
“There has been a lot of Southern influences in restaurants around here in the last 10 years,” said Robbie York, a Griffin, Ga., transplant and co-owner of American Whiskey, a restaurant and bar near Madison Square Garden that’s popular with UGA grads.
“Everybody’s doing chicken and now they can taste what chicken is really supposed to taste like,” he said.
Chick-fil-A also plans to soon open a store near Rockefeller Center and has more in the works in the coming years, chain officials say.
While the Garment District store — the chain’s largest at 5,000-square-feet — is its first free-standing New York location store, Chick-fil-A for several years has operated a smaller version with a pared menu at New York University.
The new location will have 200 employees, vs. about 75 at a typical store. And it will focus on speed, with a goal of getting customers in and out in four to six minutes. To do that, staffers will use tablets to take orders before customers get to counters to pick up their orders.
The turnover is critical because the store won’t have drive-thru business. Making the numbers work with pedestrians alone will help determine how far the company can expand into urban and international markets.
But making it in New York’s food scene won’t be a cakewalk. In most Chick-fil-A markets, and certainly its Southern home turf, chain restaurants dominate and ubiquity is celebrated.
New York boasts food influences from all over the world. Though chain restaurants exist, they are greatly outnumbered by mom-and-pop or chef-driven eateries offering a smorgasbord of flavors.
Sameness is a liability, not an asset.
‘Filling a gap’
“A lot of their success will depend on whether they are filling a gap that is going unfulfilled,” said Tim Lytton, a professor of law at Georgia State University with expertise in food marketing and policy.
The Manhattan Chick-fil-A will have the same menu as other stores. It also will be closed on Sundays like all the rest, reflecting the religious convictions of founder Truett Cathy, Dan Cathy’s father.
The chain didn’t rely on word-of-mouth to hype the opening. It sent free food to nearby Garment District offices and undertook a media blitz earlier in the week.
It also hosted a private event for University of Georgia grads in hopes that they will promote the store to friends and co-workers.
In addition, Chick-fil-A planned the traditional giveaway to the first 100 people in line on opening day. People started lining up Friday afternoon to be part of that group, whose members get a free meal every day for a year.
Tim Calkins, a clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University, said he expects Chick-fil-A to be a hit in New York. He said he thinks the negative perceptions attached to Cathy’s remarks are fading and that the company’s focus on service and communicating a positive message will convince jaded New Yorkers to give the chain a chance.
“The brand is unique and special, with its deep southern roots,” he said. “Differentiation is so important.”
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