‘ Dear Chick- fil- A…’

‘ Dear Chick- fil- A…’

County Judge hopes letter will woo popular eatery for area

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Could a Chick-fil-A be on the horizon in Crittenden County?

County Judge Woody Wheeless said he would love to see the fast food chain come to Crittenden County, and has sent a letter to Chick-fil-A corporate headquarters expressing a desire to see the chain locate a restaurant in the county.

“I’ve got a friend in Memphis who operates one so I reached out to him,” Wheeless said. “It would be a home run to get a Chick-fil-A.”

The Atlanta-based fast food chain known for its boneless chicken sandwiches, has more than 2,000 locations in 43 states.

Chick-fil-A is a privately held and family run and had more than $6 billion in annual sales in 2015.

In 2010, Chick-fil-A overtook McDonald’s in average sales per restaurant at $2,7 million. Mc-Donald’s was second with $2.4 million.

Wheeless said they had a person at one time who was interested in locating a store in the county but was told by company officials that they lacked the population to support it.

“We had an individual willing to do that. But the problem was they were going to put him in a store over in Memphis and his whole goal was to get one here,” Wheeless said.

According to Chick-fil-A’s website, a franchise opportunity only requires a $10,000 financial commitment, but the company requires the owner to operate the restaurant and be hands-on in a full-time basis.

Wheeless in his letter to the chain pointed out that Crittenden County has a population of 50,000 and is located at Interstate 55 and Interstate 40, one of the busiest in the country.

“Population-wise there might not be enough over here,” Wheeless said.

See CHICK-FIL-A on Page 3 “But, because we have a high traffic county, they at least are looking at that.”

He also noted that West Memphis will soon be breaking ground on a new hospital and that Marion recently had a groundbreaking for a new 107 room Fairfield Inn and Suites, a Mariott company, to complement the already existing Hampton Inn at Angelo’s Grove in Marion.

“There are a lot of good things going on in our county and we would like to see Chick-fil-A be a part of our growth,” Wheeless wrote. “I believe we have a lot to offer with our geographic location and our proximity to Memphis, Tennessee.”

There is even a Facebook page called Chick-fil-A 4 West Memphis which has 400 likes.

So, will the lobbying effort succeed?

Wheeless admits it is a long shot. But it can’t hurt to let them know the county is interested.

“At least it keeps us on their radar,” Wheeless said.

“That’s the whole intention here — to at least keep up the hope and keep them looking at us.”

By Mark Randall