According to an email I received, last week Al Sayer signed a deal to bring the fast food franchise Chick-fil-A to Kuwait (and I’m guessing the region). Al Sayer recently brought Five Guys to Kuwait so I wouldn’t be too surprised if this information turned out to be true. A chicken franchise seems to go hand in hand with a burger one, Americana have Hardees and KFC, Alshaya have Shake Shack and Cane’s Chicken, and Al Sayer will end up with Five Guys and Chick-fil-A. I’ve gotten in touch with my contact at Al Sayer to confirm this information but haven’t heard back from him yet.
Back in 2012 there were rumors Alshaya were in talks to bring Chick-fil-A to the region but the deal fell through. Supposedly one of the terms they couldn’t agree on was the fact that Chick-fil-A wanted to close on Sundays (they’re a very Christian company). Alshaya was trying to convince them to change that rule for the region but Chick-fil-A wasn’t backing down and the deal fell apart.
If Al Sayer do manage to bring Chick-fil-A to the region that would be a pretty amazing accomplishment. Not only does Chick-fil-A only exist in the US at the moment but the way they run their franchises is different from others. For example Chick-fil-A franchise owners generally aren’t allowed to own more than one or two branches in the States so that they can give it all their attention. So handing the reigns to another company to open up as many branches as they wish would be an unusualstep for them. I hope they are coming though since I love their food and I’ve had great experiences at their restaurants which were all super clean and had great service.
Update: Just got a pretty aggressive call a few moments ago from Al Sayer Franchising relating to this post. According to the person I spoke to at Al Sayer Franchising, this is the first they hear about a deal with Chick-fil-A. I’ll not go into too much details relating to the phone call, but I will say it wasn’t the kind of professionalism I was expecting from them.
Now just a bit of perspective on this situation. If by any chance the deal with Chick-fil-A was signed last week with Al Sayer, that information would take time before trickling down the chain of command. So it could still very well be true that Al Sayer acquired the franchise or signed some sort of preliminary agreement but have yet to let everyone internally know. In any case, they are denying this information to be true.
27 replies on “Chick-fil-A Might Be Coming to Kuwait!”
Does that mean they’ll close on Sundays? Or will they let them close on Fridays?
حلو؟
another day and an other burger joint….
Burger joint?
No way. This place is amazing and they don’t serve any beef at all.
As a liberal I don’t care for their conservative Christian values. But they have good inexpensive food and, as a parent, I really liked that kids get a book or educational materials with each kids meal.
I was also wondering about their conservative Christian beliefs.. either they won’t want to come here or some local fundamentalists will object to them coming
This should be fun. I’ll bring the popcorn!
I don’t understand why would the “fundamentalists” even care? its none of their business if the management has conservative christian beliefs, its not like they are going round handing bibles and paintings of jesus christ with happy meals. I sure hope that if the restaurant does open then both sides just learn to get along, why is that so bloody hard?
Stranger things have happened…
You’re assuming logic plays a role here, but “logic” and “fundamentalism” are sworn enemies!
Wise words.
Won’t happen
Actually, 6 restaurants in Kuwait close on Sunday due to Christian belief reasons.
Could you name them?
Beyond awesome.
Now I have a place to take my Bible Study group.
why people can’t take confidentiality agreements seriously?
So we have the Snowden’s and WikiLeaks and show the world whats happening apart from the Guardian headlines
Hi ,
just FYI i believe the deal is done and dusted. We were recently contacted regarding the equipment as well.
Cheers!
Why would they contact you when they have their own USA suppliers. They’re a franchise.
I could imagine a million reasons from supplying them with specific food items to supplying them with equipment. Franchise or not it doesn’t matter, not everything is shipped over.
I feel that you are upset about the call that you updated the previous article to write the part about chick a fill. I feel that you are toooo senstive about the matter. Anyway, lets forget about how the call was and if it is worth it to mention the unprofessional caller and point out the story again. Sometimes when you post some news without taking permison from the owner he might get upset, and if you are not 100 percent sure thats much worse. Im sure one like who’s educated and knowledgable understands matters like this would cause Issues to a company since you dont represnet them. Last im just someone who reads for u for a long time and im just saying this in a friendly way. 🙂
with all due respect you have no idea what you’re talking about
Close on Sunday’s whats the big deal???? Kuwaits favourite restaurant (mais al ghaniem) closes on Sunday’s
as a democratic it’s a shame to eat from that place … but we all got our faults. BRING THEM ON <3_<3
While I don’t agree with their ideology, I do have to commend them for ‘sticking to their guns’ so to speak. It’s quite refreshing to see someone put their beliefs above financial gain nowadays. I also can’t wait to get a decent southern style chicken place in Kuwait, I always get food poisoning from KFC.
It’s coming.
Just take note of this comment…
It’s been three years since the rumor and nothing happened😂
Any updates on this, Mark? I need my Chic Fil A Fix!