The fast-growing chain has overtaken Colonel Sanders to become the biggest player in the chicken business.
It doesn’t open on Sundays, is barely present in much of the country (three stores in Massachusetts, one in Michigan, one in Wisconsin), and it has less than half as many U.S. restaurants as KFC.
But in the last decade, closely held fast food chain Chick-fil-A has overtaken Colonel Sanders to become the biggest player in the fast-food chicken business, according to a report out Tuesday from Janney.
In 2003, the chain was a distant second to KFC and about the same size as No. 3 player Popeyes. But what a difference a decade makes:
(“Limited-service” is an industry term incorporating fast food and fast-casual restaurants.)
Chick-fil-A’s rapid growth wasn’t just a story of flooding the market with new restaurants. The company is still only marginally present in a number of states and big cities, Janney said, listing 10 states, each home to more than 200 McDonald’s (MCD +0.63%) outlets, that all have fewer than 40 Chick-fil-A stores.
Source: MSN | Tom Gara, The Wall Street Journal
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