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CHICKEN RUN: Location Analysis for Chick-Fil-A Using Thiessen Polygons

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Perhaps while you have been out shopping or running errands you have made it over to the OSU Student Union to visit the food court. One of the restaurants in the complex is Chick-Fil-A, which has entertained us for years with their advertising cows, telling us we need to “Eat Mor Chikin.” Founded in Hapeville, Georgia near Atlanta back in 1964, Chick-Fil-A has grown to a franchise having more than 1,200 locations in 36 states and the District of Columbia. Most of these original locations were and are still in shopping malls, but most of the new restaurants in the chain appear as single-unit fast-food stands as well as in university food courts and airport terminals. Chick-Fil-A is known for “inventing” the chicken sandwich as well as their signature waffle fries that complement any meal. This growing chain is now the proud sponsor of the annual Chick-Fil-A Bowl, a college football game played each December in Atlanta.

Imagine that you are a GIS Analyst for Chick-Fil-A. Corporate moo-nagement has assigned you with the task of identifying a new location for a restaurant, as the chain continues to expand with enormous popularity. You are told that the new location is to be placed specifically in Oklahoma, one of the most successful markets and target areas for the chain.

In order to determine the most appropriate location for the new restaurant, you think for a moment on how best to approach this problem of location analysis. You decide to use Thiessen polygons to help you determine current service areas of the existing franchises to help you identify neighborhoods where there is clientele stress, meaning that an existing restaurant cannot accommodate the population in its territory. Chick-Fil-A restaurants are most likely to be successful when they have a supporting population of at least