Ok those of you who do not live in Statesboro may not appreciate our addiction to Chick-fil-A – so let me try to explain.  Chick-fil-A in our community is more than another restaurant.  It is a way of life.  In fact, every Tuesday night that we are in town – you will find Edie Grace, DeWayne and I at family night at Chick-fil-A.  of course we love chicken and there is nothing better than a Chick-fil-A sandwich, other than a Chick-fil-A biscuit.  Well that was until they introduced the hand spun milk shakes this past year…but I digress.  Truett and Jeannette Cathy founded Chick-fil-A in Atlanta 40 years ago.  When they were looking for the best college in the country to send their son Dan – naturally they picked Statesboro’s Georgia Southern University.  Dan is now the COO of Chick-fil-A corporation overseeing  1,300 restaurants in 38 states with $2.3 billion in annual sales.  Dan has never forgotten our community.  They have become tremendous philanthropist to Statesboro and Georgia Southern University.  So they are like family to us.  In fact, I have had the opportunity to meet Truett and Jeannette and Dan on several occasions.  Every time I am with them, I am stunned by their genuine humbleness and continual interest in their customers – always striving to WOW them in every way – every day.  Their phenomenal success story is based on several incredible strategies the most important being a corporate philosophy based on biblical principles.  Their “never open on Sunday” policy was a bold move in their industry that honors God.  These strategies flow directly to their operators.  In fact Dan says often that it is easier to get a job with the CIA than to be come a Chick-fil-a  operator.  If you have met David and Beth Boykin, our local operators, you know immediately why the Cathy’s are so successful! 

Last year the Boykin’s commissioned me to create a watercolor of their family that has been displayed in the restaurant.  They wanted a portrait that captured their family and expressed their gratitude to our community for embracing them.  I was honored to create this portrait for their family.  I was even more honored that this portrait was displayed in our Chick-fil-A restaurant.  If there is an event in our community, David, Beth or a member of their team will be there or be involved in some way.  Their energy, enthusiasm and genuineness is contagious.

Truett Cathy is featured on the cover of this month’s Georgia Trend magazine.  They are celebrating 40 years of success.  The article and coverage is well deserved.  One interesting thing covered in the article is how phenomenally loyal their customers are.  In fact, they have a group that travels and camps out overnight at the opening of new restaurants.  So I guess we are not the only ones addicted to Chick-fil-A.

On June 23rd, our local Chick-fil-A closed for a few weeks for a remodel.  This has created a real buzz around town.  We are all craving our Chick-fil-A and curious what is going on with the remodel.  Beth and David have agreed to allow Mandy Edwards their marketing director to send us pictures of the remodel to share with you here.  So stay posted for updates and new pictures as they send them to me.  (I hear the Cow is getting a make-over too!)