The Surprising Reason Chick-fil-A Is Closed On Sundays
Chick-fil-A is almost as well known for their conservative values as they are fried chicken and waffle fries. The Cathy family has never been shy about their political stances or their commitment to faith, and given this public perception, it would be fair to assume the chain's reason for closing on Sundays was based on religion.
Surprisingly, the decision has nothing to do with Blue Laws, according to Jodee Morgan, Chcik-fil-A's senior director of culture and talent operations. Morgan spoke to Thrillist about why the company takes the day off, despite the fact that it costs them $47.5 million in revenue each year, and as it turns out, it's all about employee satisfaction.
When Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy opened his first restaurant, The Dwarf Grill, in 1946, he was working 24/7, Morgan says. "He would sleep next to the grill and jump up when he heard cars pulling up – the gravel driveway was his alarm clock."
It was during an all-nighter at the restaurant that he realized in order to maintain some semblance of work-life balance, the restaurant ought to be closed one day a weekend. This would give him and his employees a chance to rest and spend time with family and friends. When he opened his first Chick-fil-A in Atlanta, Georgia two decades later, Cathy stuck to that rule, and it's remained a company-wide policy ever since.
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Now, it makes sense that as a devout Christian he would pick Sunday as the chosen day off, in order to accommodate time for church. In fact, on Chick-fil-A's website, it says part of the importance of being closed Sundays is so employees "can worship if they choose," so it's not exactly a coincidence Sunday was chosen over Saturday.
Still, Morgan contends it's more about business than religion. The decision has become a selling point for the company when hiring new employees, regardless of their religious background, and by now it's ingrained in the company culture.
"This day off is for people to spend time with their friends, their families, to do what they want," Morgan said. "They absolutely have the choice to do whatever they want on their day off. Truett Cathy's choice was based just as much in the practical points of running a business as his beliefs."
In a video on its website, Chick-fil-A addresses the question directly, and says that while their doors are closed, "We hope you can be with your family and friends." They even have a blog called Sunday Stories, which offers recipes and activities for families to do on Sundays, presumably when they're craving some mini biscuits.
As with every rule, there are exceptions, and Chick-fil-A does occasionally open on Sundays, though not to the general public. Instead, these opportunities are typically reserved for volunteer days or cooking food to donate in a time of crisis, such as after the horrific mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
Regardless of the reason, don't expect the policy to change any time soon. Though Cathy passed away in 2014, the company is still family-owned, and his sons Donald and Dan seem set on running the restaurant chain as their father did.
Looks like we'll have to live with the real Sunday Scaries of remembering what day it is as soon as a waffle fry craving comes on. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?
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