March 28, 2019
Today we had a Backstage tour at the Chick-fil-A support center in Atlanta, GA.
The grounds are beautiful and well kept.
Our tour was at 1:30pm.
Mr. Truett Cathy had a car collection that included a Batmobile. It is said that he was very disappointed to learn (after the purchase) that it wasn’t street legal and therefore he couldn’t drive it out on the roads. He did have 70+ acres where the corporate offices are and he drove it on the roads there. Unfortunately, it never got above 40mph. It definitely was faster in the movies.
Goofy boys
It all started with a 24 hour grille called the Dwarf Grille. It was named that because it was a tiny restaurant. It had 4 tables and 10 counter stools. Truett Cathy and his brother Ben opened it in 1946 and it was open 24 hours a day (closed on Sunday) to serve the employees of the Ford and Delta plants nearby. They served food that could be fixed in 5 or so minutes as the workers had short lunch breaks and didn’t have time to wait long.
Mr. Truett Cathy started making money when he was 8 years old selling cold Coca-colas in the neighborhood.
His business motto.
Their first mascot was this chicken. They changed it though when a child asked him why they were eating their mascot. They changed to the cows.
Our tour guide said that the original recipe is indeed locked in this safe. Mr. Cathy learned to cook from his mother while they ran a boardinghouse.
Suzie really liked this saying posted on the wall.
We went up to the 5th floor to see Mr. Cathy’s office.
Instead of employees having permanent cubes to work in, they are mobile, carrying what they need in a backpack or laptop bag and they just use these workstations when they need one.
After our tour, they gave us each a cookie and CFA gift card.
We then headed 1 hour east to stay with some friends for a few days.
I really enjoyed the tour and the pictures. What a treasure for the future.