Why Chick-fil-A is in Danger of Going The Way of Pioneer Chicken
They aren’t the only one who can put a fried chicken breast between two buns
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Chick-fil-A is at the right place at the right time. Fried chicken sandwiches are huge right now. They are almost neck and neck with burgers. Fast food places are scrambling to add more chicken sandwich variations to the menu. Next time you go to a drive through notice the combo menu is almost half chicken sandwiches.
Chick-fil-A are the now. They are hot dogs 90 years ago. There should be about a dozen Chick-fillets in all of Los Angeles. The problem is they’ve become too ubiquitous. There are thousands.
I know people who eat at McDonald’s every day at lunch. I wouldn’t but McDonald’s menu has enough variety where a person could order something different for 2 weeks and not eat the same thing. And I’m counting ALL variations as one thing. What does Chick-fil-A have? Chicken sandwiches. Chicken nuggets… A chicken wrap…
Wait, they must have more than three things… Nope. Just variations of those 3 things.
Chick-fil-A is a fad.
Frozen yogurt was a fad but is back by popular demand with 12 choices and free sample cups for tasting. Who doesn’t crave that Sour Tart flavor? McDonald’s is timeless. Coffee is an American institution.
Cold Stone’s and Ben and Jerry’s hit around the same time. They wiped out all the yogurt places like Penguins and TCBY off the map. Franchisees were opening Cold Stone’s everywhere. Then one day everyone realized, “Why am I paying 7 bucks for 2 scoops of this with some nuts and chocolate mashed in when I can get 2 scoops of the same thing at Baskin and Robbins for half the price?”
Ben and Jerry’s knew it was a niche thing so they didn’t let the franchises open on top of each other. Coldstone is in big trouble with 50% of stores reporting losing money. There’s only a fraction of the stores still open from the late 2000’s.
Remember all the wrap places opening in the 2000’s? When was the last time you had a wrap from a take out place?
Here’s my personal experience with Chick-fil-A: The first one I had was incredible. It was the second best thing I had ever put in my mouth. The next day I went to Chicket fill and tried the honey mustard BBQ sauce. I think I passed out for a sec and nutted while unconscious it was so good. I ate it every day for lunch for a week.
Then, what’s known as The Chipotle Effect kicked in. I expelled the 5th or so sandwich less than two hours after eating it and I didn’t barf. The less you know the better. You can’t eat Chik-fil-A every day.
Here’s my other issues with the chicken sandwich place. First, the name is stupid and not in a Long John Silver’s silly dick joke way. Second, closing on Sunday is bullshit. Fuck your religion and gimme extra honey mustard BBQ sauce. Franchisees will soon demand they stay open Sundays as the fad wears off. Third, I’m wary of anything associated with Evangelical Christians. Which they are.
Chick-fil-A’s biggest problem right now is someone made a better chicken sandwich. It’s so good they ran out. Popeye’s chicken sandwich is better. Personally I think KFC’s is too as is Carl’s Jr. It’s a slightly different concept but it’s still a chicken sandwich.
Unless they make some changes, Chick-fil-A is doomed.
