Fort Worth company has answer: Where do Chick-fil-A customers go on Sunday?

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Declaring it as protection of religious liberty, Governor Greg Abbott signed the so-called “Save Chick-fil-A” bill into law in June.

The bill further strengthened a business’ right to religious freedoms. Among others, rights such as Chick-Fil-A’s decision to close all of its more than 2,300 nation-wide locations on Sundays for religious reasons.

“Closing our business on Sunday, the Lord’s day, is our way of honoring God and showing our loyalty to him,” Chick-fil-A Founder S. Truett Cathy had written in his 2002 memoir.

And, Chick-fil-A has closed every Sunday since its opening in 1946.

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Consequently, Chick-fil-A customers are made to find a different place to get their chicken sandwich fix on Sundays.

Which lead many people to wonder, “where?”

Where do Chick-fil-A customers go on a Sunday?

Buxton Co., a Fort Worth-based customer analytics firm, took on the challenge of solving the conundrum once and for all. Well, maybe not all. People’s preferences are subject to changes all the time

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But, after taking a deep dive on numbers and GPS data sourced from mobile devices, Buxton’s analysis found currently the most favorite – in 18 states – Sunday substitute to Chick-fil-A is Cracker Barrel.

While IHOP has been customers’ top three choices in 28 states and ranks first in eight.

In Texas, with little surprise, Whataburger gains the largest uptick in foot traffic from Chick-fil-A customers on Sundays.

Buxton, using its Live Mobile Insights platform, examined mobile device pings in Chick-fil-A outlets, nationwide. The analysis then compared the remote locations of those same mobile devices on Sundays.

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“By combining location data from the Live Mobile Insights platform with other financial and lifestyle metrics, restaurant owners get a more comprehensive insight into who their core customers really are,” Buxton Senior Vice President Phillip Crow said in a statement.

The analysis also highlights a behavioral shift. Chick-fil-A customers showing a preference for dine-ins, waiter-served meals over and drive-through options on Sunday, according to the analysis.

Although Chick-fil-A operates a day less than its large competitors, the restaurant chain made about $10 billion in revenue in 2018, according to Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A, Inc.