Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy says the chain will not open on Sundays.
Cathy, who took over as chief executive in 2021, told TODAY that the policy his great-grandfather established when founding the business in 1946 remains non-negotiable. The Atlanta-based company has never operated on Sundays across any of its locations, even as it grew to become the third-largest restaurant chain in the United States behind only McDonald’s and Starbucks.
“It was very common back in the 1940s that a lot of places were closed on Sunday and so they wanted to do that,” Cathy explained in the interview. “They wanted to have a chance to do that, to go to church and for others to take some rest.”
The Cathy family, Southern Baptists, have maintained this practice through three generations of leadership. Andrew Cathy succeeded his father and grandfather in the top role while the company remained privately held, a structure he cited as enabling decisions that prioritize values over revenue.
The CEO was direct about the permanence of the Sunday closure. “It’s never something that we’re entertaining,” he stated. “It’s just too important for us.”
Cathy emphasized that the policy serves employees as much as it serves the family’s religious convictions. “We’re not trying to scrape out every penny that we possibly can, and that’s one of the things about being a private business and a family business is we can make those types of investments because we know it means so much to our team members,” he said.
Religion remains central to how Cathy describes the company’s mission. “It is our anchor,” he shared regarding faith’s role in corporate operations. “In the sense of what our corporate purpose states is that we’re in business to glorify God, about being a faithful steward to all that’s entrusted to us, and have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A.”
This explicit religious framing has generated controversy previously. Cathy’s father, Dan Cathy, faced significant backlash for his public statements opposing same-sex marriage, drawing protests and boycott calls against the chain.
The interview also touched on economic pressures facing the restaurant industry. Cathy addressed pricing strategy amid rising costs, indicating the company is taking a measured approach. “Even though our costs are going up, we’ve got to be careful knowing the consumers are making that trade off,” he noted. “What we want more than anything is if customers do choose to eat with us, now if they feel like they got a great value for what they paid for this experience.”
Cathy added that portion sizes will not be reduced as a cost-saving measure, distinguishing Chick-fil-A’s approach from competitors who have shrunk servings while maintaining prices.
The original Sunday closure began when founder S. Truett Cathy and his brother opened their first restaurant in Atlanta. The first Chick-fil-A sandwich was developed in 1964, and the company has since expanded globally while keeping both the recipe and the weekly closure unchanged.