First UK Chick-fil-A branch to close after LGBT group backlash

October 19, 2019, 06:54 AM

Pipe Smoker

Too bad for the UK. Closing because of PC pressure, rather than business reasons.

“The first UK branch of a popular American chicken restaurant is set to close following a backlash over its owner's stance on LGBT rights.

Chick-fil-A opened its first branch of the fast-food chain in Reading just days ago on October 10, but it was revealed that the outlet is set to close in just six months.

The opening in the Oracle shopping centre prompted harsh criticism from LGBT groups as the founder's son opposed gay marriage seven years ago in 2012.
……
On Friday, the Oracle announced that it would not extend Chick-fil-A's initial six-month lease.
……
A Chick-fil-A spokesperson told the PA news agency: 'We have been very pleased with what we've seen in the UK in terms of customer response to our food and our approach to customer service…”

https://mol.im/a/7590327

October 19, 2019, 07:19 AM

greco

Good old England. Let the LGBX run the show. Did the owners consider relocation?

October 19, 2019, 07:29 AM

Mars_Attacks

Cheers could be heard from the flaming hull as the once great Britannia's mast slips below the waves.

October 19, 2019, 07:58 AM

erj_pilot

When I read of this insanity, I just refer to the Bible verses in my second quote below. One day, there WILL be weeping and gnashing of teeth...

"If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24

October 19, 2019, 07:59 AM

Balzé Halzé

Ignorant fascists.

October 19, 2019, 08:00 AM

RHINOWSO

quote:
On Friday, the Oracle announced that it would not extend Chick-fil-A's initial six-month lease.

So its only really closing because the aren't renewing their lease.

Different that failing as a business, unless I missed something.

October 19, 2019, 08:03 AM

a1abdj

quote:
Closing because of PC pressure, rather than business reasons

????????

quote:
it was revealed that the outlet is set to close in just six months.

quote:
Oracle announced that it would not extend Chick-fil-A's initial six-month lease

Sounds to me like it's closing exactly for business reasons. They signed a 6 month lease and are closing in 6 months when the lease expires.

6 months is a really short lease and I'm assuming this was a trial run to gauge the interest in the UK. You can bet if the business is there they will have a long term lease in place already at another location (if they haven't purchased).

October 19, 2019, 08:14 AM

erj_pilot

quote:
Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
quote:
On Friday, the Oracle announced that it would not extend Chick-fil-A's initial six-month lease.
So its only really closing because the aren't renewing their lease.

I may be reading into things, but the article IS making a big deal about LBGTLMNOP being a vocal influence as to why the lease is not getting renewed.

October 19, 2019, 08:44 AM

stickman428

Their loss. I don’t see how this is a win for the LGBT community because it now gives people who enjoy chicken a legit reason to hate the alphabet thugs. Fascists screaming for tolerance while being intolerant....peak 2019.

October 19, 2019, 08:47 AM

PowerSurge

quote:
Originally posted by stickman428:
Their loss. I don’t see how this is a win for the LGBT community because it now gives people who enjoy chicken a legit reason to hate the alphabet thugs. Fascists screaming for tolerance while being intolerant....peak 2019.

Agreed. But do we actually expect these alphabet soup people to think rationally?

October 19, 2019, 08:48 AM

smschulz

They don't DESERVE Chick-fil-A.
More for us anyway.

October 19, 2019, 09:17 AM

trapper189

quote:
Originally posted by erj_pilot:
I may be reading into things, but the article IS making a big deal about LBGTLMNOP being a vocal influence as to why the lease is not getting renewed.

It's a fake news trick that works like this:

Chick-Fil-a sucks.

"First UK Chick-fil-A branch to close after trapper189 says it sucks"

On the surface, the facts are true. The restaurant is closing after the fact I said it sucks, but it's up to you to connect the dots and believe it's closing because I said it sucks.

For the record, I love Chick-fil-A and no cows were harmed in the formation of this post.

October 19, 2019, 09:31 AM

Rustpot

quote:
Originally posted by trapper189:
quote:
Originally posted by erj_pilot:
I may be reading into things, but the article IS making a big deal about LBGTLMNOP being a vocal influence as to why the lease is not getting renewed.

It's a fake news trick that works like this:

Chick-Fil-a sucks.

"First UK Chick-fil-A branch to close after trapper189 says it sucks"

On the surface, the facts are true. The restaurant is closing after the fact I said it sucks, but it's up to you to connect the dots and believe it's closing because I said it sucks.

For the record, I love Chick-fil-A and no cows were harmed in the formation of this post.

One side says there was a choice to extend, the other said they knew it was going to be 6 months only.

quote:
“At the Oracle, we offer an inclusive space where everyone is welcome,” said a spokesperson for The Oracle in a statement to TIME. “We always look to introduce new concepts for our customers, however, we have decided on this occasion that the right thing to do is to only allow Chick-fil-A to trade with us for the initial six month pilot period, and not to extend the lease any further.”

A Chick-fil-A spokesperson, however, says the company always intended to only be at in Reading for that six month pilot. “We have been very pleased with what we’ve seen in the U.K. in terms of customer response to our food and our approach to customer service,” a spokesperson for Chick-fil-A said in a statement to TIME. “We mutually agreed to a six month lease with the Oracle Mall in Reading as part of a longer term strategy for us as we look to expand our international presence.”

This isn't stopping a lot of media, including American mainstreamers, to declare this a "win" for the alphabet gang.

October 19, 2019, 09:44 AM

parabellum

Their loss.

October 19, 2019, 10:00 AM

Icabod

quote:
Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
quote:
On Friday, the Oracle announced that it would not extend Chick-fil-A's initial six-month lease.

So its only really closing because the aren't renewing their lease.

Different that failing as a business, unless I missed something.

“ A statement from the Oracle said: 'We always look to introduce new concepts for our customers, however, we have decided on this occasion that the right thing to do is to only allow Chick-Fil-A to trade with us for the initial six-month pilot period, and not to extend the lease any further.'

My guess is that many businesses fail early on and the 6 month lease works for both sides. The business gets out of a long lease and Oracle gets the space back. However, Oracle could have been concerned about protests and insisted on the shorter lease.

October 19, 2019, 10:04 AM

vthoky

quote:
Originally posted by stickman428:
I don’t see how this is a win for the LGBT community because it now gives people who enjoy chicken a legit reason to hate the alphabet thugs.

It's a win for them like this:

"We don't like it, so we're happy when we can deprive someone else of it."

Generically, that statement applies to most of the "controversial" topics, doesn't it? Group A likes it, Group B doesn't. Group B isn't satisfied to simply not participate, they're far happier when the can ruin it for Group A.

You nailed it yourself, stick:

quote:
Originally posted by stickman428:
screaming for tolerance while being intolerant.

October 19, 2019, 10:07 AM

TigerDore

quote:
Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
... backlash over its owner's stance on LGBT rights...

Dan Cathey has stated that people with sexual/gender mental problems have no rights?

Of course this is a lie from the Left, as usual, because they cannot make a logical argument for their hate unless they create a straw man to rail against.

.

October 19, 2019, 11:20 AM

a1abdj

quote:
One side says there was a choice to extend, the other said they knew it was going to be 6 months only.

And both sides can be telling the 100% truth.

The 6 month lease likely had options to renew, and the lessee sounds like they intended to not exercise that option.

October 19, 2019, 11:50 AM

corsair

quote:
Originally posted by a1abdj:
The 6 month lease likely had options to renew, and the lessee sounds like they intended to not exercise that option.

That was my thoughts. Most food service operations don't last their first year and of that bunch who make it, 50% of that group don't last beyond 2-years. Short term leases, while spend initially, gives owners the option to adjust.

Considering CFA is a massive nat'l operation, with a dial'd distribution network and committed franchisees, this is just the beginning into establishing locations throughout the UK. The article is trying to shape the closing as a result of external pressure, perhaps, BUT, there will be more locations.

October 19, 2019, 01:01 PM

flashguy

quote:
Originally posted by stickman428:
Their loss. I don’t see how this is a win for the LGBT community because it now gives people who enjoy chicken a legit reason to hate the alphabet thugs. Fascists screaming for tolerance while being intolerant....peak 2019.

I'm not in the UK but I don't need another reason to "hate the alphabet thugs"--the reasons I already have seem sufficient.

flashguy