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Chick-fil-A is coming to Kokomo.

Those are words thousands of residents have been waiting to hear. The wildly popular national chicken restaurant chain has chosen Kokomo and intends to set up shop in the Hobby Lobby Plaza on the southeast corner of Markland Avenue and Ind. 931.

Timeframes have yet to be established, but the first set of development plans have been submitted to the Kokomo Plan Commission, along with a slate of variances and special exceptions to accommodate the development, the first of which will be heard at the Kokomo Board of Zoning Appeals meeting on Jan. 2.

Realistically, construction could begin as early as spring if there are no snags in the planning process. That would put Chick-fil-A's opening sometime in late 2024.

It may seem strange that Chick-fil-A chose the Markland/931 intersection as its home. With the presence of Popeye's and the impending arrival of Cane's, it would seem that the location would be at the bottom of the list.

There is nothing strange about it, however. In fact, it is likely by design.

Researchers from Cornell Univeristy concluded that it is actually in the best interests of restaurants or businesses selling similar items to set up shop in close proximity to one another.

Hypothetically, sharing profits in a highly populated area is more effective than staking out a smaller market for oneself, they discovered. While it may not change the level of profit a business sees, it does increase market share by taking it from a competitor.

In the case of Kokomo, Popeye's was the first to arrive at the 931/Markland intersection. It tapped and developed the market for chicken sandwiches in that location and arguably holds the majority of the market share, with McDonald's, Arby's, Wendy's, KFC, and Burger King capturing a portion with their chicken offerings.

Cane's will open in January within eyesight of Popeye's. It is reasonable to assume that it will capture a portion of the market and possibly expand the market by making the area more identifiable a place to get chicken.

One Chick-fil-A arrives, that market will be divided again. If there are enough mouths to feed, all of the restaurants will thrive, and selling chicken in other parts of town will become slightly more difficult. After all, Markland and 931 is where all the chicken restaurants are.

If the addition of yet another restaurant overtaxes the market, one or more of the restaurants may fail. Or other restaurants in the community will share the burden of lost market share.

A similar situation took place earlier this year in Oakland, Penn., where two national chicken chains opened stores within 500 feet of one another near the University of Pittsburgh campus. That brought the number of chicken restaurants to four in the area.

Residents there worry about the wisdom of having competitors so close together, and they further have concerns that smaller, locally-owned restaurants will be the ones that suffer most.

Chick-fil-A operates nearly 3,000 restaurants in 48 states and Canada. Established in 1946 in Georgia, the restaurant is famous for its chicken sandwiches and waffle fries, as well as its policy to close on Sundays out of respect for Christian churchgoers.

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