Chick-fil-A, Licensed Locations

Since 2017, McMillan Pazdan Smith worked in partnership with Compass Group and Chick-fil-A to develop licensed locations across the US. Operated separately from their franchise locations, these 1,000-2,000 SF restaurants are located in a wide variety of venues, including airports, arenas, hospitals, office buildings, and college campuses.

The partnership, built on mutual trust and loyalty, includes all new tenant upfits, relocations, and refreshes for current and future licensed Chick-fil-A locations in the United States. The typical process began with the firm’s design team and a Chick-fil-A corporate team visiting the site together. After an initial floor plan was approved, the full design package began. The team followed each project through construction administration all the way to completion.

Each project generally followed a one-year duration from kickoff to completion. With hundreds of projects in the pipeline, the firm’s dedicated Chick-fil-A team managed 40-60 projects running in parallel at any given time. While the design is a kit-of-parts, each project offered unique challenges based on the age of the building, the particular kitchen equipment needed for the intended service level, and the configuration of the available space.