Chick-fil-A Could Soon Be Forced Open on Sundays in Some Locations

Alex Wong/Getty Images

The notably “closed on Sundays” fast food chain Chick-fil-A may be forced to be open in some locations on Sunday if a new bill is passed.

The Democrat-controlled New York State Assembly proposed a new bill, the Rest Stop Restaurant Act, which would require fast food and related companies to provide services at the Port Authority in New York and New Jersey and the New York State Thruway seven days per week.

“While there is nothing objectionable about a fast food restaurant closing on a particular day of the week, service areas dedicated to travelers is an inappropriate location for such a restaurant,” the bill stated. “Publicly owned service areas should use their space to maximally benefit the public. Allowing for retail space to go unused one seventh of the week or more is a disservice and unnecessary inconvenience to travelers who rely on these service areas.”

Chick-fil-A is noted for keeping its doors closed on Sundays. According to the chain’s website, its founder established that the restaurant stay closed on Sundays so that “employees could set aside one day to rest and worship if they choose.”

But the measure could force the chain, which operates locations in New York, to change its policy or exit the places where it operates.

The Assembly proposal makes reference to Chick-fil-A, noting that in 2021, the “Thruway Authority engaged Applegreen, an Irish convenience store chain, to take over the leases of all service areas” and that its “portfolio of companies include Chick-fil-A, which by company policy is closed on Sundays, and which has already opened at seven service areas.”

A spokesperson for Assemblyman Tony Simone, the Democrat who introduced the bill, said he believes the company “could easily serve their customers better if their restaurants were open seven days a week.”

“The bill addresses the need for any restaurant that serves travelers to be open seven days a week,” the spokesperson told Business Insider. “When it comes to travel areas, like rest stops, bus stations, and airports, people are often traveling on Sundays, and so it doesn’t make any sense for one of the few restaurants available at these locations to be closed on one of the busiest travel days of the week.”

Mr. Simone also told the New York Post that restaurants such as Chick-fil-A should be opened seven days per week, “and if they can’t, they shouldn’t be in our rest stops.” The lawmakers who back the bill, including Mr. Simone, were described by the NY Post as “pro-LGBT.”

“Chick-fil-A has had a terrible record on LGBT rights. I’m not going to not say that clearly,” the lawmaker, who represents Manhattan’s Chelsea district, said when he was asked by the NY Post if that was his motivation. He didn’t elaborate.

In an attempt to clarify his remarks, Mr. Simone told WTEN-TV that “the Thruways are meant to serve New York travelers first,” while later adding that he believes it’s “ridiculous” for the chain to be “able to close on Sunday—one of the busiest travel days of the week.”

A spokeswoman for the New York State Thruway Authority told Yahoo that it’s fine that Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays because other restaurants are available at rest stops.

“Our requirement is that we have at least one hot food option available,” Thruway spokesperson Jennifer Givner told USA Today. “If Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays we have other alternatives for our customers.”

Chick-fil-A is now located at seven of the 27 rest stops around New York state, according to the report.

According to the chain’s website, Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy made the decision in 1946 when he opened his first restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia. “Having worked seven days a week in restaurants open 24 hours, Truett saw the importance of closing on Sundays,” it says.

The Epoch Times has contacted Chick-fil-A for comment Wednesday.