Chick-Fil-A Is Being Sued For Its Drive-Thru. Here's Why
A Chick-fil-A in Toledo, Ohio is the central target in a friendly neighborhood lawsuit. According to WTOL11, neighboring businesses in the parking lot it shares have complained about the popular fast-food chain's drive-thru line, and it's not just because they're jealous. In a turn of events that surprises no one, Chick-fil-A has proven too popular for its own good.
The owner of a shopping center where the Chick-fil-A is located says the lines for the chicken chain's drive-thru get so long that they fill up the center aisles of the parking lot, which prevents people from being able to park or get out of their parking spots (via Newsbreak). A.J. Faulkner, a general manager at a neighboring Bulk Beverage, explained, "As they back up and get busy, their line stacks in front of the other locally owned businesses, including ours." Footage from a security camera at the Bulk Beverage shows a line of cars snaking through one of the main parking lot aisles with little room for other cars to maneuver.
What does the lawsuit mean for Chick-fil-A and everyone else?
According to WTOL11, the lawsuit isn't about money for the owner of the shopping center – it's about getting Chick-fil-A to fix the problem. Faulkner described it as a potentially "dangerous situation where there's been accidents on our lot. There's been near misses and customers that have complained in our first two weeks of business of an unsafe environment in the parking lot." We can't say if the remedy involves speeding up the ordering process, making better signage to direct the flow of traffic, or adding a new location nearby, but Chick-fil-A might have a number of options at their disposal to make sure cars aren't clogging up parking real estate or endangering anyone in the parking lot.
As for the Bulk Beverage, they said they mostly welcome Chick-fil-A's presence, because it drives up visits to their store. "It brings extra traffic to our business. But on a daily basis they do get very busy during the lunch rush and at nighttime as well during dinner time as one of our neighbors," the general manager said. And with a Big Lots possibly setting up shop in 2021, this shopping center had better get their ducks (chicks?) in a row. Unfortunately, there is such a thing as too many chicken sandwiches.