Lawmaker introduces a bill that would require all restaurants located at New York rest stops to be open everyday
Albany, New York – In its 77 years of existence, over 3,000 Chick-Fil-a locations have all been closed on Sunday’s. Except for one, the location of the Asheville Mall of Asheville, North Carolina. During the 90s when the location first opened the mall required the restaurant to be open on Sundays. During the course of their lease agreement, the mall location proved and made a name for themselves in the Asheville market. Upon negotiating their second new lease, the mall permitted the restaurant the ability to be closed on Sundays if they chose.
Now today, a state of New York lawmaker, Tony Simone, has introduced a bill that requires all restaurants located in any of the state’s rest stops for travelers to be open. Simone’s argument for the introduction of this bill is that a lot of people travel during the weekends and stop at the rest stops to grab something to eat. If people are stopping to expecting a restaurant to be open and it is not. What would be the point of occupying the space if its not properly serving travelers during the most busiest time of the week for travelers?
A representative for Tony Simone spoke with Business Insider and shared, “Chick-Fil-A 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,” a representative for Simone told Business Insider in an email. “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.”
If the bill is successful, Chick-Fil-a has nine locations throughout the state of New York’s rest stops. Chick-Fil-a would either have to comply and open on Sundays or vacate.
