Business

Chick-fil-A draws flocks of supporters

By Bill Moss, Published: August 1, 2012

Traffic was backed up on U.S. 64 and a line of diners snaked out the door as hundreds of supporters visited Chick-Fil-A in support of its owner's position opposing gay marriage.

The line started before noon and continued into early afternoon as supporters spread the word of  Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day through social media and radio and television.

Supporters were reacting to an interview with the chain's president, Dan Cathy, published two weeks ago.

"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit," Cathy said. "We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that."

A Facebook page started by conservative commentator Mike Huckabee attracted 620,000 people saying they would turn out to support the restaurant chain.

Shortly before 2 p.m., as the drive-through line horse-shoed around the building, store manager Joel Benson greeted customers and thanked them. They in turn thanked him. He said he did not know how many chicken sandwiches the restaurant had served but said it was on track for the busiest day ever.
"This store's got a 10-year history of treating everybody with honor, dignity and respect and we'll continue to do that," he said. The gay marriage comments "were his personal views, of course. We've been doing the same style of business since 1946 when he started, serving great food in a clean restaurant quickly with a smile, and this is a show of that impact, over decades, treating everybody with honor and respect.
"Regardless of anybody's personal views, this is a business that operates on biblical principles. Those principles are honor and integrity."
He said customers have been appreciative.
"They're just here to make a statement, they're here to let us know they appreciate Chick Fil-A," he said. "It's not necessarily about my particular store. They just appreciate the way we do it."