ATLANTA Church’s Chicken said it would send its chief executive to three stores in Texas on Wednesday so he could distribute thousands of dollars in cash to unsuspecting customers as part of a charitable giveaway.
Harsha V. Agadi, CEO of the 1,650-unit quick-service chain, will give customers $1,000 each as part of Church’s Random Acts of Goodness national campaign, which so far has donated more than $10,000 in cash in seven cities.
The premise behind the giveaway is to help customers either pay their bills or give back to their communities.
Church's has said it is acutely aware of how the economic downturn has affected its customers and as a result is gearing its menu toward affordable, 99-cent value meal deals, which Agadi said have been positively received.
“We are cognizant of the fact that there is higher unemployment, lower paychecks and higher taxes,” he said. "If we don’t deliver value, then we’re not doing our part in this recession."
Church's was sold in May by Bahrain-based private-equity firm Arcapita Inc. to San Francisco-based Friedman Fleischer & Lowe, another private-equity investor, for approximately $300 million.
Atlanta-based Church’s is known for its Southern-style chicken, corn on the cob and honey-butter biscuits. The chain has annual global systemwide sales of $1.2 billion.
Contact Elissa Elan at [email protected].
