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The ultimate test of fast-food physics is arriving in Miami.
Chick-fil-A is expanding its footprint in the Sunshine State with a new delivery-only “ghost kitchen” in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, marking a strategic move to bypass the real estate constraints of traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants.
Operating within the CloudKitchens network, the location is the privately held fast-food giant’s first delivery-only kitchen in Florida and just its sixth nationwide, allowing the company to maximize kitchen capacity and meet demand without the overhead costs of a traditional dining room.
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The restaurant is located at 1900 NE Miami Court, and will fulfill orders primarily through third-party delivery platforms, according to a Chick-fil-A press release. It is open Monday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to midnight – two hours later than Chick-fil-A’s typical dine-in or drive-thru closing time.
The new Wynwood location is expected to create approximately 30 local jobs, offering hands-on training, mentoring and competitive benefits.
“We know how important fast and reliable delivery is to Wynwood, and we want to meet the community where they are while keeping our signature hospitality,” owner-operator Thomas Overby said in the release.
“Being born and raised in Miami, serving this community is very special to me. Our new delivery kitchen location gives us the opportunity to serve the Wynwood community in a way that works best for them and gives me the privilege to deepen my connection with my hometown,” he continued.
While traditional restaurants face constraints including seating capacity, kitchen square footage and limited hours, a delivery-only kitchen allows the brand to serve a larger customer base and operate at full capacity without paying for prime retail real estate or dining room upkeep.
Partnering with established kitchen infrastructure networks like CloudKitchens allows the company to rapidly deploy its delivery framework into high-density urban areas such as Miami.
Unlike its publicly traded competitors, Chick-fil-A is a privately held company with no public shareholders and reigns as America’s third-largest quick service restaurant. The slow rollout of its “ghost kitchen” model mirrors similar smaller-scale moves Chick-fil-A has made in recent years, like opening five stores in its first expansion into England and just one in Singapore – a city with more than 6 million people.
Chick-fil-A’s other five delivery-only locations operate in College Park, Maryland; Nashville, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Boston, Massachusetts; and Northern California.
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