At 6:30 a.m. this morning, Chick-fil-A opened its doors to Springfield. The newly built location brought excitement to locals and fast food fans.
Employees showed up to work the grand opening at 5:30 a.m. and found people already lined up outside the door and cars lined down the street ready to enter the drive through.
“I immediately wanted to get my spot in line when I found out about the opening, and we got here around 5:00 a.m. this morning,” Caroline Greene, a Eugene local, said. “I was so excited to hear that a Chick-fil-A was opening nearby so I no longer had to make trips an hour away with my friends just to get a chicken sandwich.”
The opening has been highly anticipated by staff and management, and with opening day finally here, the staff was very excited to see such a big crowd.
“[We are] so excited, it’s been a long process to get the building built and hire 130 full-time and part-time employees, more than 1,000 people applied to work here and we have the best talent and we’re just so excited,” a Chick-fil-A staff representative said. “The excitement today is palpable, we had people showing up at 1 a.m. lining up, so they were ready to eat some chicken and it was great.”
The staff at Chick-fil-A was handing out free Chick-fil-A cow stuffed animals, keychains and pens to every car in the drive through and everyone who walked through the door.
“We’re just excited to be here and support the community. That’s the biggest thing with Chick-fil-A,” said the Chick-fil-A staff representative.
This large crowd also attracted various protest groups including animal rights activists and Bigfoot Beverages workers union protestors.
The Gateway Street and the Randy Pape Beltline location will be open until 9 p.m. and will be accepting drive-thru orders until 10 p.m.
