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Chick-fil-A Comes To Canada With Calgary Airport Location

Anti-Gay U.S. Chicken Chain Opens Up Shop In Canada
Flickr: StockMonkeys.com

A U.S. fast food chain known for its openly anti-gay stance has quietly opened up shop in Canada.

The company says it plans to avoid taking any political stances in Canada, but seemed somewhat sensitive to its image as an anti-gay company. It asked the Calgary Herald to avoid the topic when talking to customers.

Chick-Fil-A was the target of protests and boycotts in 2012 after it emerged the company had donated nearly $2 million to anti-gay causes in 2010, and CEO Dan Cathy publicly reaffirmed the position.

Chick-fil-A’s expansion strategy — 108 new locations this year — includes moving into areas where its politics are unpopular.

Individual franchises are working to overcome the political stigma; in California, a franchise offered free meals last year to gay marriage advocates.

In New York, the chain is adding healthier items to its chicken-oriented menu, but faces political opposition.

We don’t need bigots coming to New York City,” openly gay Councilman Daniel Dromm told HuffPost.

The expansion into New York is seen as a litmus test for whether the company can make it outside its southern U.S. base.

If we can’t do it in New York, we have no business going anywhere else,” Woody Faulk, VP of design and innovation at the chain, said in an interview.

The Sun notes this isn't Chick-fil-A's first foray into Canada. It opened a location at the University of Alberta in the 1990s.

"We were in Canada before in 1995 and learned a lot through that experience but we weren’t open very long and now we have an opportunity to... open this new location,” Dick said.

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