Chick-fil-A | Pullman Restaurant Opening
The Challenge: In April 2025, Chick-fil-A prepared to open its newest restaurant in Pullman — a historic South Side neighborhood undergoing revitalization — as part of its broader Chicagoland expansion. While the opening marked a significant business milestone, it required navigating real brand favorability challenges and reputational sensitivities within the market.
The Opportunity: Nina approached the opening not as a media moment to manage, but as an opportunity to tell an authentic story about local investment and community partnership — positioning Chick-fil-A as a committed neighbor in Pullman, centered on South Side native and Owner-Operator Elise Mills and the restaurant's tangible role in job creation and economic growth.
The Work: Nina stewarded a hyperlocal earned media and community relations strategy designed to build genuine goodwill and redirect the narrative from brand misperception to community impact.
Core efforts included targeted Chicago media outreach and interview strategy, Owner-Operator positioning and message training, grassroots engagement moments including a neighborhood block party and ribbon cutting, community and civic stakeholder coordination and on-site media relations throughout opening week. Her approach prioritized neighborhood immersion, local voice amplification and proactive narrative management — signaling Chick-fil-A as a credible, purpose-driven presence that demonstrated deep commitment to understanding and investing in Pullman from day one.
The Impact: The opening became a reputation-affirming milestone — transforming lingering brand misperceptions into tangible community impact and establishing a blueprint for how Chick-fil-A can open restaurants in nuanced markets with clarity, credibility and care.
Chick-fil-A Pullman garnered 53 earned media placements, with 100% key message pull-through and 100% neutral-to-positive sentiment.
Top-tier coverage spanned Chicago Tribune, WLS-TV (ABC Chicago, IL), What Now Chicago, Chicago Defender and Chicago Business Journal — consistently elevating Mills’ hometown leadership and the restaurant’s role in job growth and economic investment.
By managing a complex network of stakeholders and reputational dynamics, Nina steered the narrative in a historically sensitive market — reframing a potentially polarizing opening into a meaningful brand-building moment and a replicable model for responsible expansion.
