Local

Alabama’s first Chick-fil-A closing after 47 years

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The first Chick-fil-A restaurant to open in Alabama nearly 50 years ago is closing.

Jerry Cotney, who owns the restaurant at Brookwood Village mall in metro Birmingham, announced the shutdown in a social media post that said the once-popular shopping venue is no longer thriving.

The restaurant opened under another owner in 1974, just seven years after Truett Cathy launched the first Chick-fil-A at a mall in metro Atlanta. The company now has more than 100 locations in Alabama, its website shows.

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The Brookwood Village will close at the end of the month, Cotney said, and he hopes to open a new restaurant nearby later this year.

“Over the next couple weeks we are going to celebrate some milestones that this amazing team has accomplished. Beyond that, thank you for allowing us, for supporting us over the past four and a half decades in this community,” said Cotney.

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The first Chick-fil-A restaurant, the Dwarf House, opened in Hapeville 75 years ago. It still serves items from Truett Cathy’s original menu, including -- believe it or not -- hamburgers.

“Founded by Truett Cathy in 1946, the Hapeville Dwarf House (originally named the Dwarf Grill) is the birthplace of the Original Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich,” Chick-Fil-A said on its website. “It was in this restaurant that Cathy first invented the boneless chicken sandwich and asked his customers to taste test it for him until he perfected the recipe in 1964.”

In May, the company announced a major remodel of the beloved restaurant.

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Information from The Associated Press was used in this report