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Yes. Drive thru means big bucks.
I was back in LA a couple of months ago and the CFA drive-thru phenemona has hit In and Out Burgers as well, where they have the space for them, the lines are insane. They get creative too, the denser area Westwood UCLA store has the DT go through a backlot. They never used to be like that.
Brick and mortar fast food is economically raging and sweeping the nation by storm these days.
There are many others without a drive-thru - one is in the mall in my town and new one in Boston - but per this article, they generate a much lower sales volume:
with drive-thru - $8.5 million
without drive-thru - $2.7 million.
Considering that Chick-Fil-A takes 50% of revenue, the operator has to realize that it's going to be tougher to eek out a living.
C-F-A is building drive-thru only stores to reduce wait times as they have the longest drive-thru wait times in the industry.
There are many others without a drive-thru - one is in the mall in my town and new one in Boston - but per this article, they generate a much lower sales volume:
with drive-thru - $8.5 million
without drive-thru - $2.7 million.
Considering that Chick-Fil-A takes 50% of revenue, the operator has to realize that it's going to be tougher to eek out a living.
C-F-A is building drive-thru only stores to reduce wait times as they have the longest drive-thru wait times in the industry.
I would love to see the actual breakdowns on these numbers on this. That spread is insane and I bet it's a near one to one loss of land value to profit, aka a subsidy.
I was wrong - it can be much higher. The cost to become an operator is only $10,000. Corporate pays for and owns any real estate, equipment, inventory, and most importantly - it owns the business. For their investment, it takes 15% of sales and 50% of profit.
Operators are expected to work 60-70 hours weekly in the restaurant and cannot have other jobs or ownership of other businesses. The store is your life. An operator builds no equity as CFA owns the operation. It's extremely rare for an operator to get a second location. Net income to the operator is typically 5-7% of gross. CFA can terminate the operator if they don't meet goals.
There are many others without a drive-thru - one is in the mall in my town and new one in Boston - but per this article, they generate a much lower sales volume:
with drive-thru - $8.5 million
without drive-thru - $2.7 million.
Considering that Chick-Fil-A takes 50% of revenue, the operator has to realize that it's going to be tougher to eek out a living.
C-F-A is building drive-thru only stores to reduce wait times as they have the longest drive-thru wait times in the industry.
Wow, that difference is like night and day. I wonder how much of the non-drive-thru business correspond to delivery (could be from the company or outsourced types such as Grubhub.)
Wow, that difference is like night and day. I wonder how much of the non-drive-thru business correspond to delivery (could be from the company or outsourced types such as Grubhub.)
C-F-A works with some delivery outfits. I don't eat there as much anymore but based on my unscientific observation from when I did, I'd say less than 10% was delivery.
Just as an aside, there is a Chick-Fil-A in Woburn, MA with a drive-thru and they do a huge business there. They are set back from the road and the traffic is handled well. When the little plaza was being developed, Chipotle wanted to open where C-F-A now it. The city said no due to traffic concerns.
Well, Fairfield is getting a Chick-fil-A after all. Instead of building a whole new building with drive thru like proposed a couple years ago, the company is going to just rehab the old Joe’s American Bar & Grill building. They won’t have a drive thru which was the major issue when proposed a couple years ago. Because they are remodeling the existing building no further town approvals are required, just permits to do the work. Jay
The one in Brookfield on Federal Road is a nightmare for traffic. There is no left turn signal into the plaza with the Chik-fil-A, so you either wait forever to make a left turn or you drive into the plaza across the street and use the same light to go straight to the restaurant.
The one in Brookfield on Federal Road is a nightmare for traffic. There is no left turn signal into the plaza with the Chik-fil-A, so you either wait forever to make a left turn or you drive into the plaza across the street and use the same light to go straight to the restaurant.
I hear you. Glastonbury is not a lot better. There’s no signal at the small plaza it’s in and the drive through backs up sometimes onto Main Street. They are trying to make some minor changes but I doubt they will help. Will see.
So I noticed driving by on Rt 1 in Darien an old bank is being converted to a place called Birdcode, they put new signage up. I never heard of it so I Siri'd it. Lo and behold another fast food chicken joint, and not far down the road from the Chick-Fil A.
Fast Food Chicken is blazing a path through the state with fury and reckless abandonment.
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