(Photo Credit: Frankieleon/Flickr)
Chick-fil-A fails in the UK
In a sour turn of events, Chick-fil-A is closing its first restaurant in the United Kingdom just days after opening. The chain announced Saturday that it will close the site after just six months because of a protest over the company’s opposition to same-sex marriage, according to The New York Times.
The restaurant opened in Reading, England, but the local LGBTQ advocacy group, Reading Pride, was able to rally local patrons into boycotting the chain.
In what The Oracle, the shopping mall where the restaurant leased its space, calls “the right thing to do,” Chick-fil-A will not be allowed to remain beyond its “initial six-month pilot period,” as stated to the BBC.
The UK is not the only place where Chick-fil-A has come under fire. In the U.S. the chain, as well as the owner, has gotten backlash for its support for anti-gay groups and opposition to gay marriage.
Chick-fil-A has also chimed in on its recent opening in the UK, revealing in a statement that it only planned on staying in the initial space for a limited time anyway.
Although pleased with the lines since opening and the customer responses, the chicken fast-food chain said that it only “Agreed to a six-month lease with the Oracle Mall in Reading as part of a longer-term strategy” while Chick-fil-A looks to expanding its international presence.
By: Maytinee Kramer
