The smell of fried chicken and cheers of children in cow costumes filled the atmosphere of the brand new Chick-fil-A location in Glassboro, as the restaurant opened its doors for the first time this past week.
The restaurant is located at 525 Delsea Drive, across from Monarch Diner, and shares a driveway with Liscio’s Bakery, which opened last year. It had been under construction since last summer, and held its grand opening on Thursday, Feb. 12.
Despite the popularity of the chain, Krystal Maldonado, the Glassboro Chick-fil-A’s director of operations, wasn’t exactly sure of how the restaurant’s first day of business would go.
“It’s the first day so we wasn’t too sure what to expect. We know that Rowan is right there, Glassboro High School is right there,” Maldonado said. “At 6:30, when we opened, we did have a pretty big line, but it went by pretty fast.”
The restaurant chain’s mascot attended the event, taking pictures with customers and people in cow costumes. Red, white, and black balloons hung from the ceiling, and a photobooth was set up to celebrate the opening.
Customers who dressed in a costume received a free entree or kids’ meal.
“We’re trying to invite our community to try Chick-fil-A if it’s their first time, or just you know, enjoy the day at Chick-fil-A,” said Maldonado. “Even if you just have a spot or an accessory, anything goes; you could even have a black and white shirt. Chick-fil-A’s on us.”
Additionally, Chick-fil-A celebrated the grand opening of its new location by donating $25,000 to Feeding America, a non-profit organization designed to help aid hunger relief in the United States. According to Chick-fil-A’s website, the company makes this same donation every time they open a new location.
The first Chick-fil-A restaurant opened in Atlanta, Georgia, back in 1967, and the brand new one in Glassboro is now one of over 3,000 locations in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada.
The restaurant exists between Delsea Drive and North Main Street, right down the road from Rowan Boulevard and Holly Pointe. Rowan students such as Luke Reed, a senior finance and management major, raised concerns about the location; however, they ultimately didn’t see it as a problem.
“I think it’ll become an issue only when classes are changing, when everybody’s getting out, and everybody’s going. But other than that, I don’t think it’ll get too bad. It wasn’t bad getting here, and it’s opening day, so I can’t imagine it’ll be worse any other day,” Reed said. “I’d be worried about the Delsea Drive side. That road’s dangerous to turn on and off of. Very dangerous.”
The Chick-fil-A team planned accordingly, as they had two police cars block the left turn lane onto Delsea Drive, according to Maldonado.
“For the next three days, we do have police controlling the area,” said Maldonado. “We also are giving out to the drive-thru customers a little map of what to do.”
Despite concerns about extra traffic in the area, Zoey Wong, a sophomore with a dual major in political science and law and justice, saw the positives of having a Chick-fil-A near campus.
“It’s exciting to have more options around campus,” said Wong.
Construction on the restaurant started in July, about two years after the location was discovered by the owners of the Chick-fil-A in Mantua Square. According to Maldonado, the restaurant saw over 800 applications. In the end, however, about 130 employees were hired as delivery drivers, team members for either the front or back of the house, cooks in the kitchen, and beyond.
Chick-fil-A adds to Glassboro’s increasing number of new restaurants, such as Greens and Grains on Rowan Boulevard, and Ry and Howie’s over on High Street. The famous fast-food restaurant will operate on Monday through Saturday, from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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