By Mark Albright, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Running a company that put "glorify God" in its mission statement meant not opening Sundays. Yet the average Chick-fil-A store sold more in six days a week in 2011 than any other fast-food chain did in seven.
Its industry leading $2.7 million per store was $300,000 more than the average McDonald's, and its $4 billion in annual sales put the Atlanta company on track to pass KFC as the nation's ninth biggest.
At 91, founder Truett Cathy is chief executive, but son Dan Cathy is the savvy marketer calling the shots day in and day out. A champion collegiate wrestler who almost became a professional trumpet player, the younger Cathy feels right at home playing reveille camped overnight in a Chick-fil-A parking lot filled with fans hoping to win a year of free meals for being ...