- Chick-fil-A announces its first Downtown Los Angeles location; Ashley Derby selected as local franchise owner
LOS ANGELES, 2017-Aug-04 — /EPR Retail News/ — Chick-fil-A, Inc. confirmed today (AUG 1, 2017) that its first Downtown Los Angeles location is on the way. The 6,500 square-foot restaurant will be located at 660 South Figueroa Street and will occupy a two-story space on basement and street levels. Designed and built to fit into the vibrant environment of Downtown Los Angeles, the restaurant will feature dining room seating for 80 and a community table for large gatherings. Formally named Chick-fil-A at 7th & Figueroa, the restaurant will be open 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
Los Angeles resident Ashley Derby was selected as the local franchise owner of the new Chick-fil-A restaurant and will employ approximately 80 full- and part-time team members. Derby currently is franchise owner of the Chick-fil-A restaurant at the University of Southern California and will be leaving her post there to oversee day-to-day activities of the new downtown location.
Locally Owned and Operated
No stranger to Chick-fil-A, Derby got her first job with the restaurant company when she was just 15 years old. She began working as a Team Member at a restaurant in her hometown of Atlanta, Ga., as a way to earn money to buy her first car and continued throughout her years attending Spelman College. More than a decade later, at age 26, Derby relocated to Los Angeles to become the franchise owner of the USC restaurant – making her one of the youngest franchise owners in Chick-fil-A history. While running the USC restaurant, Derby was awarded Chick-fil-A’s Champion’s Club award, an honor reserved for Operators whose businesses experience particularly high growth and success. Having called L.A. home for the last six years, Derby is excited to introduce Chick-fil-A to downtown L.A. with the opening of her new restaurant.
“The energy in downtown L.A. is palpable,” said Derby. “I cannot wait to become a part of this growing neighborhood, and I look forward to welcoming our guests with hand-crafted food and hospitality.”
At her USC restaurant, Derby’s passion has always been supporting her team and helping them grow as professionals. She looks forward to providing the same positive, nurturing workplace environment at Chick-fil-A 7th & Figueroa.
Team Member Investment
Chick-fil-A is known for hiring, developing and retaining young talent, offering a supportive workplace with opportunities for leadership development, promotions that lead to management roles, respect for work-life balance and competitive wages. Chick-fil-A 7th & Figueroa will employ approximately 80 full- and part-time team members. To help its team members pay for college, the restaurant will offer the opportunity for college scholarships through Chick-fil-A’s enhanced national scholarship initiative, Remarkable Futures. Remarkable Futures more than doubles the company’s prior investment in team members’ college educations – providing $4.9 million in scholarships in 2017 alone. Students have the opportunity to receive up to $25,000 in scholarships to be applied at any accredited institution of their choice, including online and on-campus formats, and can be combined with tuition discounts and other benefits at more than 70 partner colleges and universities nationwide. As with all Chick-fil-A restaurants, team members are also guaranteed Sundays off.
Premium Ingredients and Fresh, Handmade Food
Nearly everything on the Chick-fil-A menu is made from scratch daily, including salads made from fresh vegetables and fruit that is hand-chopped throughout the day. The lemonade is fresh-squeezed and is made from three simple ingredients: lemon, sugar and water. Like all Chick-fil-A restaurants, the chicken served at Chick-fil-A 7th & Figueroa will be 100 percent whole breast meat, without any fillers, hormones or additives. Each chicken breast is hand-breaded to order and pressure cooked in 100 percent refined peanut oil, which is naturally trans-fat- and cholesterol-free. By the end of 2019, every Chick-fil-A restaurant will serve chicken raised without antibiotics.
Responsible sourcing goes beyond Chick-fil-A ingredients and includes sustainable efforts throughout the restaurant. Today the equivalent of more than 4.5 million recycled plastic bottles are clothing more than 100,000 restaurant team members across the country.
Commitment to Customer Service
With a longstanding tradition in the restaurant industry for setting the highest standards in customer service, Chick-fil-A recently earned a top spot in the 2016 Customer Service Hall of Fame for the third year in a row and is the only quick service restaurant to make the top five of the Customer Service Hall of Fame. The company has also earned recognition as one of America’s “Most Inspiring Companies” by Forbes Magazine, one of America’s “Top 20 Most Admired Brands” by The Harris Poll and “Top Fast Food Chicken Chain” by Consumer Reports, among other honors.
For more information about Chick-fil-A and stories about the company’s food, people and customers across the country, visit chick-fil-a.com.
About Chick-fil-A, Inc.
Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A, Inc. is a family owned and privately held restaurant company founded in 1967 by S. Truett Cathy. Devoted to serving the local communities in which its franchised restaurants operate, and known for its original chicken sandwich, Chick-fil-A serves freshly prepared food in more than 2,100 restaurants in 46 states and Washington, D.C.
Chick-fil-A system sales reached nearly $8 billion in 2016, which marks 49 consecutive years of sales growth. In 2017, Chick-fil-A received the top score among fast food brands and one of the top 10 scores overall for customer experience in the Temkin Experience Ratings survey. In 2016, Chick-fil-A was named the Technomic Consumer’s Choice for “providing value through service,” named the “the most polite restaurant in the country” in QSR Magazine’s annual drive-thru report and was the only restaurant brand named to the Top 10 “Best Companies to Work For” by 24/7 Wall Street. More information on Chick-fil-A is available at www.chick-fil-a.com.
Contact:
(800) 404-7196
Email: cfapressroom@chick-fil-a.com
Twitter: @ChickfilANews
Source: Chick-fil-A
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