Despite a slumping economy, Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A continues to expand.
Company leaders recently toured the Front Range searching for new locations, which they say are becoming harder to find as developers scale back on new projects.
Chick-fil-A opens its 15th stand-alone restaurant in metro Denver on Tuesday, April 23 at the River Point at Sheridan shopping center, 4090 River Point Parkway. The company also has restaurants in six Colorado malls.
The chain plans to open two more restaurants in Aurora and one each in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and Longmont within the next year. Chick-fil-A will open 64 stores nationwide this year, down slightly from 75 last year.
“We very much believe in Colorado,” said Dan Cathy, president and chief operating officer and son of Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy. “The whole area from Pueblo to Colorado Springs to Boulder — these are very strong markets.”
The company posted record sales growth last year, reporting sales of nearly $3 billion, a 12 percent increase over its 2007 performance. It marked Chick-fil-A’s 41st consecutive year of sales gains.
Denver retail broker Phil Hicks, who has worked with Chick-fil-A for 15 years, recently led company executives on a three-day tour from Pueblo to Cheyenne to scout future sites for expansion.
“It’s refreshing that they’re so encouraged about doing deals,” Hicks said. “They were positive. They were approving deals.”
Chick-fil-A has scaled back its expansion this year partially because of the economy and partially because of intense competition for space in new shopping centers, Cathy said.
“We’re seeing an awful lot of development that was on the drawing board 24 months ago being shuttered,” Cathy said. “Retailers that are growing are competing for sites today. Pricing has not dropped like we’ve seen in the housing industry.”
Chick-fil-A’s competitors include chains such as Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald’s, which have lower price points than restaurants such as Chili’s or Ruby Tuesday that consumers previously were frequenting.
Chick-fil-A also faces competition for locations from automotive-related businesses such as Brakes Plus and Discount Tire, which are actively looking at real estate, said David Larson of Legend Retail Group, which represents those companies.
“The use isn’t so much the issue as the general location and need to locate something in a desirable area,” Larson said. “A lot of the restaurants that want to expand have turned their attention to infill sites where the population already exists. For a long time, they were riding the wave of suburban growth where new shopping centers were proposed.”
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
This article has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to a reporting error, it listed an incorrect opening date for the Chick-fil-A restaurant at River Point at Sheridan shopping center. The restaurant at 4090 River Point Parkway opens April 23.
