Chick-fil-A’s operators typically manage only one local outlet, the company’s “secret sauce” in maintaining consistent food and service quality.
There are very rare exceptions where an operator runs more than one outlet, but these restaurants have to be located near one another and share a customer base.
“It’s not just a money play to buy a Chick-fil-A franchise. No one with money can come in to buy a Chick-fil-A,” points out Colby Cameron, the operator of a franchised Chick-fil-A in the Halcyon neighbourhood in greater Atlanta. “Building a fast food restaurant is going to bring noise and trash, but we operators aim to make our community glad that a Chick-fil-A is opening in the neighbourhood.”
Right now, Chyn Koh is busy preparing for the Singapore outlet’s opening sometime “late this year”. The location will be revealed at a later date.
Per Chick-fil-A’s policy, it will be closed on Sundays. It’s a tradition started by founder Truett Cathy, a devout Christian, in 1946 so that employees could rest and, if they so inclined, devote time to attending church.
This setup process is nothing new to Koh; he has 17 years of experience running six franchised Subway outlets before he divested them in order to take up Chick-fil-A’s franchise.
He shares: “I had built a really steady rhythm. But nearing 50 years old, I feel I have 20 years of energy left to do something spectacular. My son is 13 this year, and it’s difficult to talk to him (laughs). What I do now matters more, so I wanted to show him how to have values, take up something and make it long-lasting.”
Koh, who is the son of a former longtime Shin Min Daily News editor, confessed that he was “never a good student” and not inclined to follow his dad’s footsteps in the newsroom.
“He saw the good and bad in me, he knows what I’m good at and that I can’t sit behind a desk. He was always a corporate guy, but he told me to go be an entrepreneur,” he laughs.
He later worked as an account manager at The Coca-Cola Company, introducing beverage products and promotions to clients like 7-Eleven and, yes, Subway. Incidentally, Coca-Cola is also headquartered in Atlanta, like Chick-fil-A. “There must be some divine arrangement,” he remarks.
