A friend of mine was convinced that “La Quinta” was Spanish for “cheap hotel located next to a Denny’s.” After he told me that, I kept noticing that every time I saw a La Quinta, there was a Denny’s next to it. Maybe just a coinky-dink.
Larger commercial property buyers often look at what existing chains/franchises are nearby as.part of their analysis.
Chick-fil-A doesn’t need to get to involved in market analysis if they’re setting up next to Walmart. It’s already been done by Walmart.
That’s why you often see major retailers bunched up like that. If you’re selling to them you can get a lot of intel by finding out what’s around their existing locations.