Chick-fil-A, the Atlanta-based chicken chain that saw its restaurants ring up a reported $13.7 billion in sales in 2020, is again looking to better position itself for continued growth. ToNeTo Atlanta has since 2017 reported on more than a dozen "scrape & rebuilds,"relocations and new restaurants for the quick-serve chain. We have now identified another planned relocation that company has in its metro Atlanta pipeline.
Several years ago, Chick-fil-A reportedly tried to acquire what was then a shuttered Checkers restaurant adjacent to its current DTO location. Their efforts were unsuccessful and the Checkers was later renovated and reopened under new ownership. Additionally, Chick-fil-A has been closing mall-based units: Northlake, Gwinnett Place and North DeKalb Mall locations among them, which has no doubt pushed business that might previously have been in the mall to the accompanying freestanding Chick-fil-A restaurants surrounding the malls.
It's no secret that Chick-fil-A restaurants are among the most productive quick-serve chains with average unit volumes of about $6 million, according to sources familiar with the restaurant's performance. To keep up with demand, Chick-fil-A is constantly looking to optimize its real estate portfolio to create and operate the most efficient restaurants that it can.
In Tucker, Chick-fil-A is also planning to relocate their existing restaurant from 4340 Hugh Howell Road to 4431 Hugh Howell Road. The existing restaurant, which opened in 1989, is what some might consider an endangered species: a Gen 1 Chick-fil-A, a design of the restaurant chain that is quickly disappearing across Atlanta. The current location, situated in an outparcel of the Ingles Markets Goodwill anchored Tucker Station shopping center, is literally at the corner of Lawrenceville Highway and Hugh Howell Road. The new restaurant is further down Hugh Howell, in the direction of the new Hugh Howell Marketplace development, and would replace the Greater Good BBQ which closed in early 2020.
Are you pleased to hear that Chick-fil-A plans to replace their existing DTO location with a full service restaurant? Were you hoping for a Whataburger on the Pier 1 site? What is your favorite fast food chain?
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