The franchise operators share the same first name, a philanthropic nature and families that include adopted children. They also each have coached youth sports, live in Avon now and have stores with award winning sales.
The Avon store, 10791 E. U.S. Highway 36, is owned by Chris Tincher while the Plainfield store, E. Main St., is owned by Chris Spires.
“With our stores being so close together we share a lot of customers,” Tincher said. “We careful how we market our businesses and work in our communities so we can maintain a good healthy relationship with each other. He’s great to work with.
Tincher has owned the Avon franchise since 2009. He previously owned the Chick-fil-A in the Castleton area in Indianapolis since 2002. Prior to that, Tincher had been in the hotel industry for 12 years.
Tincher, from Louisville, has
been in the Indianapolis area since 1998.
“Chick-fil-A is looking at Brownsburg so if it finds a location that is something I’d be interested in,” Tincher said.
Tincher, 45, lives in Avon with his wife Amber, twin daughters Chloe and Jasmine,11, and son Reece, 8.
“With Chick-fil-A we like to be involved with youth and education,” Tincher said. “One organization I’m involved with is Youth Leadership in Hendricks County as a mentor.”
Tincher serves on the board of the Avon Education Foundation and serves on the center advisory board of Hendricks Regional Heath YMCA. He also serves as an Avon Junior Athletic Association coach in football and basketball.
“For us as operators, most of us have a desire to be active in our communities, we want to be able to give back,” Tincher said. “It’s important for us to have a positive influence on those we serve. When I was looking at Chick-fil-A, the biggest thing was the like-minded values. That’s the most important thing for me with whatever organization I would be involved with. Having a business that is closed on Sunday and having the opportunity to worship with my family that was terrific. The restaurant business is so crazy, it’s nice to have that Sunday off.
Spires has been running the Plainfield store since July 2004 and owned it since July 2005.
“My dad owned his own dry cleaners for 15 years and I’m kind of wired like him, I know it would be best if I worked for myself,” Spires said. “I saw the benefits of working for myself and some of the drawbacks. I always knew that and I wanted to own one.”
Spires, 41, and his wife, Julie, worked in a homeless shelter in Houston and when they came back to Indiana he interviewed with a franchise owner on the north side of Indianapolis.
“When talking with him it was clear Chick-fil-A servant heart matched who I was and what I was about,” Spires said. “I worked for him for a year-and-a-half and offered me the chance to go to the Plainfield store because the owner was transitioning to a new store.”
Spires said the store then had the lowest sales volume in the Chick-fil-A chain for non-mall stores. But he saw progress in the year he ran so when he had the option to buy the store and did.
“Our store just won the (company’s) Symbol of Success sales award for the sixth time,” Spires said. “I’m one of two operators to win the award six times in the same store. You have to grow sales 18 percent year over year to win it.”
Spires pointed out Tincher’s Avon store has won it two years in a row.
“So both the Avon and Plainfield stores have had great success and I think we would both tie that to great community support in vibrant communities ,” Spires said.
Spires, who grew up in Michigan, went to Anderson University where he met Julie. They have five children, including three adopted. The children are Noel, 13, Preston, 10, Ezekiel, 6, and 3-year-old twins Rechelle and Gabrielle.
“They been more of a blessing for us that we’ve been for them,” Spires said of adopting.
Spires is a past president of the Plainfield Chamber of Commerce and coaches youth soccer. He is the mowing team at Plainfield Christian Church. Spires moved from Plainfield to Avon a year ago.
