Chick-fil-A

With all the emotion of the last few weeks with the Chick-fil-A boycott and the subsequent best day in their history, I thought I would explain something I said on Facebook. I said there was no such thing as a Christian business. I had several things in mind when I said it.  One was that it should be obvious that Chick-fil-A was not a Christian business, because most of the outlets are franchised. That means they have local owners. There is no way that Chick-fil-A could limit its franchisees to Christians, or to heterosexuals for that matter. You may have noticed the picture of the McDonalds francisee that used their sign to support Chick-fil-A. McDonalds is as much a "Christian" business as Chick-fil-A. 

Right?

While Chick-fil-A could not legally prevent non-Christians from owning a franchise, there are many ways that this could be done in a subjective way though out the franchise process. Acceptance of a franchisee is fraught with subjective decisions. Chick-fil-A has a standing policy of being closed on Sunday. Can they in a franchise agreement force a Jewish franchisee to be open on Saturday and closed on Sunday? Can they force me, as a Sabbatarian Christian, to be open on Saturday and closed on Sunday? I do not see how they can, yet Chick-fil-A is closed on Sunday. 

Here is how they do it:

Chick-fil-A uses a model significantly different from other restaurant franchises, notably in retaining ownership of each restaurant. Chick-fil-A selects the restaurant location, builds it, and retains ownership. Whereas franchisees from competing chains pay almost $2 million up front to open a franchise, Chick-fil-A franchisees need only a $5,000 initial investment to become an operator. The company gets 10,000–25,000 applications from potential franchise operators for 60–70 slots they open each year. Chick-fil-A gets a larger share of revenue from its franchises than other chains, but the formula works well for operators – franchisees make an average of $190,000 per year. In 2010 Chick-fil-A took the industry lead in average sales per restaurant, making an average of $2.7 million per restaurant in 2010 (McDonald's was second with $2.4 million per restaurant). 

So for $5,000 you get a job that pays $190,000. Note that there are a huge number of applicants, so subjectivity must play a part. 

If you are a Moslem for example? Forbes tells us:

Chick-fil-A, the corporate parent, has been sued at least 12 times since 1988 on charges of employment discrimination, according to records in U.S. District Courts. Aziz Latif, a former Chick-fil-A restaurant manager in Houston, sued the company in 2002 after Latif, a Muslim, says he was fired a day after he didn't participate in a group prayer to Jesus Christ at a company training program in 2000. The suit was settled on undisclosed terms. 

I am surprised there have not been more lawsuits. Now, with the publicity, there will be. 

I am reminded of my days selling mobile homes. We had a competitor that had a big sign at his business. It said "Jesus Saves" Sale. What was this businessman saying? He was trying to attract Christians as customers by wrapping himself in Jesus. His wrapping himself in Jesus was offensive to me. I never did find out what a "Jesus Sale" was. 

Is this what Chick-fil-A is doing? Maybe not, but looking at the results of the controversy, surely you can see why I think this might have been planned all along. 

There is little chance that a Jew, a Sabbatarian like me, a Moslem, or a homosexual will become a franchisee. I am sure there are a few here and there to avoid lawsuits. Personally I think this should be legal, but is it right? I will leave that up to you.