The first Chik Fil-A in the UK is closing due to protests from LGBT radicals. Here's how Newsweek reported it:
LGBT+ groups expressed concerns about Chick-fil-A's views on LGBT+ rights and the company's donations to perceived anti-LGBT+ organizations.
The Oracle shopping mall said it would not renew Chick-fil-A's six-month lease, telling the BBC it's the "right thing to do."
"We always look to introduce new concepts for our customers, however, we have decided on this occasion that the right thing to do is to only allow Chick-fil-A to trade with us for the initial six-month pilot period, and not to extend the lease any further," an Oracle spokesperson told the BBC.
While the British caved to the mob, however, Chik Fil-A has become the third-largest restaurant chain in America.
From the Washington Examiner:
Chick-fil-A has more than doubled its annual sales since gay rights advocates called for a boycott of the chicken chain restaurant after it was revealed nearly a decade ago that the company donated to organizations that opposed same-sex marriage.
In 2018, the company had $10.5 billion in total sales, becoming the third-largest chain in the nation behind Starbucks ($20.5 billion) and McDonald’s ($38.5 billion). It was a 16.7% increase in sales from the year prior.
An analysis credited the growth to a variety of factors, including the opening of nearly 700 more locations in recent years, low start-up costs, and digital sales via delivery apps.
There are now more than 2,400 locations nationwide, and the $10,000 in startup costs for an operator are significantly lower than the costs needed to open a McDonald’s.
Meanwhile, the Daily Wire reports how the boycotters believe they're winning:
Northwestern University management professor Brayden King said the boycotts were, however, successful by getting media attention.
“I think the activists would say the boycott against Chick-fil-A is successful even if they didn’t get people who typically go to Chick-fil-A to stop buying Chick-fil-A sandwiches,” King told the podcast Freakonomics. “The reason they would say it was successful is because they got the media to pay attention.”
So, while the company's measurement of success is sales growth, the measurement of success for the boycotters is media coverage. Why would success be an increase in media - even if it created MORE sales?
One reason is that media coverage can be cited as proof of the activism when wooing donors for the leftist organizations. Showing videos of news coverage proves that the activists can make a scene someplace to get coverage.
But probably more importantly - the media coverage satisfies the activists' need to see themselves waging "the fight." It satisfies the desire to know that other people see them protesting.
Even if it's making their adversaries more successful.
Pete's Prep: Monday, Oct. 21, 2019
- From Law360.com: "While more states have moved to legalize pot, many of them have failed to make provisions to help people who still carry convictions for behavior that's now legal. However, an increasingly loud chorus of activists, lawmakers and some prosecutors are championing bills and even lawsuits to make sure some of those most hurt by prohibition don't get left behind when it ends."
- From WLOS: "Buncombe County Commissioners seek public input for a strategic plan. The board of commissioners is developing a plan that will guide Buncombe County into the future, and county officials are looking for the public's input."
- Mountain Xpress: "[T]he number of people who pay more than 30% of their income for housing is rising in Asheville."
- From the Wall Street Journal: "Four drug companies have reached a settlement at the last minute to avoid a trial here seeking to blame them for fueling the opioid crisis, according to people familiar with the matter."
- From the Asheville Citizen-Times: "The pet problem has grown so out of control that Goforth appeared before the Madison County Board of Commissioners Oct. 8 to advocate for a new policy that limits animals in the library to service dogs. Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the new policy that follows guidelines outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act."
- The College Fix: "On Monday evening, conservative students at the University of North Carolina Charlotte put a display up on their campus that warned of the deadly dangers of socialism. The “Socialism Graveyard” included headstones that told of the system’s death toll in various countries. By Tuesday morning, their entire exhibit was gone."