Chick-fil-A Enjoys Serving Suwanee

The Chick-fil-A brand needs no introduction to residents of Suwanee. A quick glance at the parking lot at almost any time of day confirms just how popular this quick-service restaurant is with surrounding residents.

 Since 2007, the has been a landmark in the Suwanee community and a popular meet-up for families, high school students and anyone looking for a taste of the famous chicken sandwich.

The store operator, Brad Williams, is an entrepreneur who successfully promotes and guards the brand name while also building a thriving business. Williams is also the operator at the Sugarloaf. 

Ask any regular customer of Williams' stores why they visit and purchase there, and you'll likely here words like cleanliness, respectful employees, service, and good food. These are an integral piece of the elements built into the franchise model created and designed by Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A. 

Cathy, a savvy businessman, understands that a successful business is built from community involvement, extraordinary service and a quality product. It's what makes this brand run. 

A personal favorite service of mine is that at the completion of each order, I hear these two words, "My pleasure." It's distinctive and classy, a true signal of service and something that makes me glad I chose Chick-fil-A that day.

Make no mistake though, Chick-fil-A is in the quick-service (aka fast food) restaurant business, and Williams is all about the time to service customer's orders.

"There is a difference in being hurried and being quick." Williams says. “Customers are always late for something. My employees are trained to be quick but not to let the customer see that they are hurried."

The drive-through is where you'll find the most efficient employees and the ones that really must operate quickly to keep the customers on schedule.

Williams says that Chick-fil-A teaches their employees that each order "is not a transaction, it’s a relationship. They should think one customer at a time no matter how many customers are line." This is also a great life skill and one that Williams hopes will stick with his employees forever.

The employees make the service model work and have direct contact with customers to make the experience. That's big statement when you consider that most of the hourly employees are high school students.

 Williams said that "Chick-fil-A has the lowest employee turnover rate in the industry." He is the final interviewer on new hires and says he hires on attitude. "I can teach you how to run a register or run the floor. But I can’t teach attitude. I'm looking for kids that are involved in school and community. These are the ones most likely to already have the servant attitude in them," he said.  

New hires must train in a formal program before they can get in front of a customer. This teaches them the core elements of the Chick-fil-A brand and service model.

Williams began his professional career in 1986 with the John Harland Company, now Harland Clarke. His brother-in-law was the operator of the Chick-fil-A on North Druid Hills, and it was through him that Williams developed an interest in the operator program. In 1989 he left his job at Harland to take a position at the Chick–fil-A corporate office as an intern.

For the next two years, Williams was a participant in the management development program with the goal to ultimately become a store operator. In January 1991 he opened his first store in Lilburn, which he operated for nine years before opening his current Duluth store on Satellite Boulevard.

In January 2007 Williams opened the Moore road location while keeping the Duluth location. It's not common for Chick-fil-A to assign an operator to two stores. This is a testament to the business success Williams has built and his ability to uphold the company's community-service model.

Williams is also a consultant for the store at the Atlanta airport in Concourse A. They don’t have a full operator, so he spends some time each month assisting with the operations.

What has he learned as a successful business owner? Williams said he "would have more faith and trust earlier with his leadership when running two stores. Give more, allow more and trust more." He has learned to let his leadership team have more flexibility and make more of the day-to-day decisions. They understand the business and he's trained them for the responsibility.

Williams has lived in Suwanee since 1998 and is a Gwinnett life resident. He graduated from . He is on the board of directors for Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Gwinnett and he serves on the leadership team at .