- June 11, 2026
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When Jonathan Ith walked into the DeSoto Square Mall Chick-fil-A for his first shift as a team member March 7, 1989, he didn’t know he was beginning a chapter that would help define his American Dream.
Even working at all, at the chicken fast-food joint outside downtown Bradenton, was major accomplishment back then, and life transformation: Ith and his family are survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime, which tore through Ith's native Cambodia in the mid to late 1970s, killing more than one million people through executions, starvation and slave labor. The Ith family survived a treacherous journey until immigrating to America in 1981. Ith, 11 years old at the time, didn't speak a word of English when his family enrolled him in a Bradenton elementary school.
Ith has since built a long and entrepreneurial career with Chick-fil-A. The flagship location he operates, the Creekwood location on State Road 70 in east Manatee County, does some $12 million per year in sales. He has run that store for 25 years.
Ith was also recently awarded a second Manatee County store — a notable feat given Chick-fil-A is notoriously picky about the finances, and character, of its operators. He projects the next and bigger location, in Heritage Harbour at 7283 State Road 64 E., Bradenton, a few miles north of Creekwood, will do between $15 million and $18 million in annual sales. That would place it among the highest-volume stores in Florida and the Southeast.
“If you work hard and put your mind into whatever you want, you will accomplish it at the same time,” Ith says. “Everything you do, life is just not handed to you, you have to go get it. When the opportunity is there, you have to go and take over, take charge of the opportunity.”
Jennifer Kahler, chief of strategy for the Creekwood location — and Ith's fiancé — notes how meaningful it is that he secured the opportunity to expand. “Jonathan has worked so hard for this opportunity and Chick-fil-A doesn't select their operators lightly,” Kahler says. “It's very competitive, so being awarded Heritage Harbor was a celebration for everyone here. Everyone's super excited about this new opportunity.”
Ith cites another factor in the success: the Chick-fil-A corporate office.
“The reason why I'm in business with Chick-fil-A is because they have a great support system where you’re in business for yourself but not by yourself,” Ith says. “Chick-fil-A provides all the financing and they built a store and furnish it. My responsibility is to hire the employees and operate the business based on their core value and culture.”
Ith says he and his team were able to grow the market so well the demand was needed for another location.
“We’re busting at the seams here because the demand is still here because of what I do and practice here,” Ith says.
Kahler says working for Chick-fil-A is also about making an impact in the community beyond the four walls of the restaurant.
“The mission is especially meaningful to Jonathan because it was this very community that welcomed and supported Jonathan and his family as they sought refuge from the war in Cambodia and began building a new life,” Kahller says.
“Combined with my background in education and passion for working with children and Jonathan's deep desire to give back to the community that helped shape his family's journey, serving through Chick-fil-A has been the perfect match.”
Initially the Creekwood restaurant was built to be an $8 million business and now, on a hot strip of east Manatee for commercial and residential growth, it's 50% bigger in sales, at around the $12 million figure.
One reason the Heritage Harbour site is projected to do more sales is physical size: it will be over 6,000 square feet, about 40% bigger than Creekwood’s 4,300 square feet. It will include more parking, outdoor seating and an improved, interactive playground.
At Creekwood, they host a minimum of five events per month including homeschool hangouts, story time with the cows and other events to create a place where families can bond and interact with other people in the community. They also have partnerships with various schools and youth programs. They plan to expand and bring that same energy and community to Heritage Harbour.
Despite their best effort at fast customer service, the drive-thru at Creekwood has been an issue with all the increased traffic. At the new location, some 52 cars will fit in the drive-thru at once compared to the Creekwood one, which can hold 25.
Logan Schanie, senior director of customer experience, began working at Chick-fil-A Creekwood when he was 17 and has been there ever since. He embodies the 'my pleasure' spirit and ethos of Chick-fil-A — even when the drive-thru is jammed.
“There's always going to be some mistakes when we're doing 2,200 plus transactions in a day, but we’re making sure people understand that we care,” Schanie says. “We're working as hard as we can to get it right and that doesn't happen at every restaurant. Our attention to detail is unmatched in a lot of restaurants, especially within the quick service industry.”
Schanie has handled many roles in the past 11 years at Creekwood and he is excited to transfer to Heritage Harbour alongside some other team members. About half the 120 current team members will transfer over to Heritage Harbour when it opens.
“We're always trying to figure out what the next thing is that we're going to work on and Jonathan's always really focused on that,” Schanie says. “He's smart business-wise, in terms of running a successful business and keeping the profit margins good. That's where Jonathan's strong.”
