After months of anticipation, Franklin residents will welcome Chick-fil-A to their roster of local restaurants starting on Thursday, Jan. 13.
Chick-fil-A Franklin operator Caleb Peters has been working for the fast-food chain since he was 14 years old. He joined their leadership development program in 2016 and took on his first role as operator in 2019 at the location in the Mercer Mall in Bluefield, West Virginia. Now living in Franklin, Peters said Chick-fil-A was keeping an eye on Macon County before they announced the new location and what they found suggested the area would be a major asset for the company.
“Chick-fil-A Inc.’s restaurant development team noticed a demand from the community,” Peters said. “After research on the area and other nearby Chick-fil-A locations, we determined Franklin was a great choice to open a new restaurant.”
The restaurant’s development process began in the summer of 2020, but people really started to notice its physical presence last fall. After extensive site prep across the road from the Dowdle Mountain Pit Stop, Chick-fil-A broke ground on Sept. 8 and progress on the building has been steady ever since. Peters is delighted that the project has remained on schedule despite all the hardships in the construction industry brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020.
“Development for the new location started in the summer of 2020 with a plan to open early in 2022,” Peters said. “I am thrilled to share that our opening will take place on Jan. 13.”
The restaurant will be about 5,500 square feet and will have enough dining space inside and outside to accommodate 122 customers. Plenty of space has been made available for drive-thru customers, and officials with the restaurant say they’re making it a priority to offer easy access to delivery and curbside pickup as the pandemic continues to be a problem. Anyone interested in joining the Chick-fil-A team will have no shortage of options – the restaurant will create about 90 new jobs at various positions.
“Chick-fil-A Franklin will bring more than 90 full-time and part-time jobs to the community, including front-of-house, back-of-house, delivery drivers and various leadership opportunities,” Peters said.
The next closest Chick-fil-A locations to Franklin are in Cullowhee and Clayton, Georgia.
Dedicated fans of the franchise have been clamoring for news on the new restaurant for months, so much so that Peters says his team is working with local officials to make sure that traffic flow stays orderly on opening day. It’s an exciting time for Franklin, one that Peters says that he and the company are happy to be a part of.
“So far, we’ve received an overwhelming amount of support from the Franklin community,” Peters said. “We are so excited to be bringing Chick-fil-A to the city, and I look forward to personally getting to know my new team members and each guest that visits Chick-fil-A Franklin.”
Chick-fil-A is opening on Thursday, Jan. 13 at the intersection of Siler Road and Dowdle Mountain Road with business hours running from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday.