Chick-fil-A debuted with its first store in the United Kingdom in the first week of October.
October is not even over and yet, the British shopping space which leased the area has already said it will not continue with the restaurant’s six-month lease, BBC told on Friday.
The Oracle shopping space in Reading came under a lot of pressure from a local LGBTQ rights group, Reading Pride, reported on the BBC.
The company based in Atlanta has come up with criticism and mass bunks for its donations in the past to anti-LGBTQ groups and CEO Dan Cathy’s comments speaking against gay marriage openly in public spaces
Chick-fil-A’s reputation-damaging past has lowered its feet expansion previously. In April, the company failed to land a couple of tempting airport tenders in the U.S. after a few politicians took up their concerns over the company’s anti-LGBTQ past.
Yet, the chicken chain is the largest U.S. restaurant company by sales after McDonald’s and Starbucks. Chick-fil-A is fast trying to catch up with its opponents by going outside of its stronghold in the Southeast.
In 2018, it revealed plans to stary its first international location in Toronto, with a minimum of 14 more locations expected in the greater Toronto area in the next five years.
An official from Chick-fil-A told CNBC in a press release: “Chick-fil-A is constantly analyzing new locations for potential growth in the hope of catering to customers with great food and award-winning service.
This six-month pilot licensed location in Reading, UK is an intrinsic part of our adventure in international markets.”
The Oracle declined to reply to a request for comment.
The queer collective and their impact has never been stronger. 2018 and onwards has seen a strong movement against such discriminatory stances. Chick-fil-A is only the latest to feel the heat and rightly so.
