This newsletter comes out every other Thursday and hopefully provides you with thought-provoking content about the mundane, wacky, and weird. I will be writing until the 75th edition. If you know someone who may enjoy the newsletter, share it with them here.

This was the summer of Chick-fil-A for me. Jenny and I found that its chicken salad and waffle fries were the perfect antidote for our long driving days during our cross-country roadtrip. Despite the consistently long-lines and questionable charity stance, I found myself looking forward to my next meal there. Everywhere we went, Chick-fil-A was packed with families, couples, and teenage kids.

By USA sales, Chick-fil-A is ranked as the 3rd largest fast-food chain.

When adjusted for per store revenue, it is unparalleled. This is even more stunning because Chick-fil-A is famously closed on Sunday. Here is how its sales stack up against the golden arches for sales per restaurant.

Chick-fil-A was founded by a devout Christian named Truett Cathy. He opened the first Chick-fil-A in 1967 in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. He did a lot of things early on that separated them from the rest:

1. “We didn’t invent the chicken, just the chicken sandwich”. It’s true. They were the first to have a commercially successful chicken sandwich. Cathy tried over 100+ recipes and landed on a chicken, quick fried with peanut oil, two pickles and a buttered bun.
2. Shopping malls -Almost no malls in the southeast had food options when they started in 1967. They stayed exclusively in shopping malls for the first 20 years. Truett Cathy thought the employees would need some place to eat, and the rent was cheap.
3. Closed on Sunday. Every fast-food chain was opened 7 days a week to maximize revenue. Chick-fil-A decided to close on Sunday from the get-go, to give people a rest. While it is tied to Christianity, employees enjoy the day off regardless.

Closing on Sunday also drives up demand for the other days of the week and makes Chick-fil-A stand out even more, which in turn drives customer loyalty.

What’s kept them successful for 50+ years?

The simple menu leverages the paradox of choice, where more options paralyze people. It is counter-intuitive, but with fewer options, people buy more. This also saves a ton of money on kitchen prep, cutting better deals with suppliers and doubling down on the most popular items.

Speaking of popular, Dan Kathy the CEO of Chick-fil-A, says that their internal studies show that 30% of people drive away from Chick-fil-A because of the long line. Get this, opening up a new Chick-fil-A doesn’t really solve the problem. The demand still stays high 🤯