Chick-fil-A will open its store in New York City’s Garment District on Oct. 3, the company said Monday.
The three-story location, at the corner of West 37th Street and 6th Avenue, will be the Atlanta-based chain’s largest at 5,000 square feet. It is the company’s first Chick-fil-A’s free-standing restaurant in New York, though Chick-fil-A has operated a small store in New York University’s food court since 2004.
It also will be one of Chick-fil-A’s most expensive locations. Chick-fil-A is expected to pay about $450 a square foot, industry experts said. That compares to about $20 a square foot that a fast-food chain would typically pay in a shopping center in an American suburb, which has been the company’s bread and butter.
The location will have a second-floor dining room and about 10 cash registers, the most for any Chick-fil-A location.
Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy has said how the New York store performs will help determine if international destinations like London are in the chain’s future. But the company also has been haunted by statements Cathy made three years ago opposing gay marriage, which has led some to wonder if the chain would be successful away from its Southern core.
