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On Chick-fil-A Day, Lines Extend Outside Restaurant
BOARDMAN, Ohio – The Chick-fil-A on U.S. 224 just east of South Avenue was so full at the dinner hour Wednesday that a marshal from the township fire department warned the owner/manager, Gail McCullough, that he would have to delay the admission of more customers.
The customers outside both the eastern and western entrances stood patiently, and with good humor, under a hot sun.
The Chick-fil-A parking lot was filled -- indeed, customers parked in the adjoining Kmart lot and were not deterred by the visibly long lines -- and the cars in the drive-thru lane circled the restaurant 1½ times. Orange cones were placed out front so drivers couldn’t cut into the inner lane.
Such was typical of “Support Chick-fil-A Day” proclaimed by former Arkansas governor and now Fox News host Mike Huckabee. CNN reported similar throngs of customers at most of the more than 1,600 Chick-fil-A restaurants across the United States.
Most who showed up here Wednesday and waited in line were present to show their support of Don Cathy, president and chief operating officer of the restaurant chain, and his support of what he calls the “Biblical definition of family,” taken by his detractors to mean Cathy’s opposition to same-sex marriage.
A group of Cathy’s opponents tweeted the Mahoning Valley media that they would be present at the Chick-fil-A on 224 at 6 p.m. to demonstrate their disagreement. Few showed.
An assistant manager, Taitem Bretz, approached the press at 5:50 to ask that cameramen not shoot on Chick-fil-A property. Television live-remote trucks parked in the Long John Silver and Kmart lots. Cameramen used telephoto lenses.
One who disagreed with Cathy appeared at the store at 6:40 because he had seen live television coverage in Warren of the Chick-fil-A and drove as fast as he could to Boardman. “It’s about equality,” he said, as he debated whether to go on camera and make it official that he’s gay. He lives in a gay community in Florida, he said, but was reluctant to confirm his sexual orientation up here.
The Business Journal did interview him on camera. See the DailyBUZZ webcast when it's posted this afternoon.
The day was one of huge support for Chick-fil-A and its president and COO. One would-be customer cruised the parking lots looking for a space and said he couldn’t stay around to make a purchase. Could he just make a donation instead as a show of support?
A former employee who just received her master’s degree in criminal justice at Youngstown State University, Holly Hassey, said she disagrees with Cathy’s stand on gay marriage but feels he's being unfairly maligned for adhering to his values. ”I support his right to his opinion,” she said. “The media has distorted it all.”
Hassey, of Boardman, worked at the Chick-fil-A in the Southern Park Mall from 2003 to 2010. During that time, she said, Chick-fil-A provided her with a scholarship to YSU. While at the mall outlet, she had wanted to attend a company meeting in Maryland where she hoped to meet Cathy. Her colleagues informed Cathy of her disappointment and “He called my store to speak to me. He didn’t have to,” she recalled. “Can you imagine any other company president doing that?”
Despite the long lines, the servers and kitchen crew of 35 seemed in no danger of running out of food and disappointing customers.
Customers exited and said they had waited in line up to 35 minutes but the servers greeted them with smiles, thank-yous, and didn’t seem the least flustered.
Contrary to some customers’ expressed belief that the Chick-fil-A did not restock during the day, McCullough said a truck had delivered a shipment earlier. He seemed confident that would suffice until he closed at 10 p.m.
Since opening at 6:30 a.m., he reported, there had been no let up in customers.
Indeed, two families from New Castle, Pa., were holding a tailgate party in the back of a pickup truck in the Kmart lot. “We’re here to support Mr. Cathy’s right to express his opinion on traditional marriage,” said Anthony Piccirilli. He and his wife paid $20 – full price -- for three meals. “The food is great,” he emphasized.
Mrs. Piccirilli praised Chick-fil-A for “the child-friendly toys” available in the restaurant.
A fellow tailgater, Cheri Ponziani, informed a reporter, “Every single employee has a smile on their face.” She drove from New Castle yesterday, she said, “because it’s Chick-fil-A day and I’m showing my support for a Christian-owned and operated company.”
Under an oak tree on the grass island between Chick-fil-A and Long John Silver’s, the Dorn family of Boardman was enjoying a picnic dinner with another family. They too had come to show their support of Cathy and belief in “traditional family values.”
After the fire marshal advised McCullough the number of customers was coming close to violating the safety code, the owner reconfigured the lines inside, a customer reported. While the lines were getting longer as 7 p.m. approached, a woman told a reporter it had taken only 15 minutes to stand in line, place her order and be served.
Apparently, as the lines got longer, the waiting time got shorter.
McCullough and his managers were polite and took the time to answer a reporter’s questions although he would have preferred to simply hand out a statement prepared by Chick-fil-A headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. He praised his servers and kitchen crew for keeping up with demand. “They’re very hard-working,” he said, as if somehow a reporter had missed the obvious.
Employees scheduled to be off yesterday were not asked to come in to help out, he said. And the incentives and awards for staff for maintaining the restaurant’s standards will be rewarded, including birthday parties and pizza parties, as has been company practice.
A small number of customers identified a Business Journal reporter and videographer as members of the media and approached them to relate their support of Cathy. On the other hand, as many as five, most of them elderly, were surprised at the turnout and asked a reporter what had caused the filled lots and long lines.
One woman who sought out the reporter and videographer, Khadija Gillette of Struthers, told them, “I came from an Arab country. This is so wonderful to be here where you have freedom. They want to take our freedom away.”
Who are “they,” she was asked.
“This country is [based on] if you don’t bother me, I won’t bother you,” Gillette responded. Then she went into how homosexuals’ sexual orientation is their own business, but she would prefer they keep that to themselves. She agrees with Cathy that marriage is between a man and a woman, not two people of the same sex.
The restaurant manager, McCullough, provided the following statement from Chick-fil-A headquarters:
“Chick-fil-A is a family-owned and family-led company serving the communities in which it operates. From the day Truett Cathy started the company, he began applying biblically-based principles to managing his business. For example, we believe that closing on Sundays, operating debt-free and devoting a percentage of our profits back to our communities are what make us a strong company and Chick-fil-A family.
“The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect -- regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. We will continue this tradition in the over 1,600 restaurants run by our independent owners/operators. Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriages to the government and political arena.
“Our mission is simple: to serve great food, provide genuine hospitality and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.