Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy says the fast-food chain’s decades-old policy of closing every Sunday isn’t going anywhere, even though it means leaving money on the table.
In an interview with NBC’s “Today” co-anchor Craig Melvin, Cathy explained the practice dates back to the company’s founding in 1946, when staying open seven days a week wasn’t the norm.
“So it was open 24 hours a day, six days a week, and it was very common back in the 1940s that a lot of places were closed on Sunday,” Cathy said. “And so they wanted to do that. They wanted to have a chance to take a break … go to church, and for others just to take some rest.”
Cathy, who has led Chick-fil-A for five years, said employees value having a guaranteed day off each week. He added that he’s never actually calculated how much revenue the company forgoes by staying closed on Sundays.
“And that’s being truthfully honest with you, I never have because it’s never something that we’re entertaining. It’s just too important for us,” he said.
Being privately held and family-owned, Cathy said, gives the company the freedom to keep a policy in place even though it isn’t designed to maximize sales.
That freedom doesn’t seem to be hurting business. Chick-fil-A posted an average annual sales volume of $9,161,239 per location in 2025, outperforming chains like Wendy’s and Burger King that are open all week. The company also fields roughly 150,000 franchise applications a year, according to Cathy, and added 179 new franchise and company-operated locations in 2025, according to QSR Magazine, bringing its total to 2,863.
The Cathy family’s Christian faith remains central to how the company describes its mission. “It’s our anchor in the sense of what our corporate purpose states, that we’re in business to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that’s entrusted to us, and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A,” Cathy said.
Not everything at Chick-fil-A is frozen in time, though. While the chain has used the same chicken sandwich recipe since founder S. Truett Cathy created it in 1967, the menu is getting at least one update: a new Spicy Chick-fil-A Sauce, the company’s first new sauce in ten years, launches Nov. 16. Customers just won’t be able to pick it up on a Sunday.
Fox News Digital said it reached out to Chick-fil-A for comment.
