The chicken has arrived. Chick-fil-A opened at Grove City College (GCC) on Monday September 18, 2023.
This new dining option for the GCC students is also open to members of the surrounding community.
This is now the closest Chick-fil-A location to Slippery Rock University (SRU), as the next closest is in Cranberry, Pa.
Susan Grimm, the vice president of operations at Grove City College explained the process of how Chick-fil-A came to be at GCC.
“The whole process took a year from start to opening day”, Grimm said, while explaining that the process began with a site survey from members of the Chick-fil-A organization. This allowed the franchise to determine if the college fit with their model. A big factor in the decision to move forward was that both parties found that their core values aligned.
Grimm explained, “Chick-fil-A and Grove City college have similar missions, Chick-fil-A is a Christian business and Grove City College is a Christian school”.
GCC students who have purchased a meal plan will have access to Chick-fil-A. “Students are allotted three meal swipes a week that can be used at Chick-fil-A”, Grimm said. With those meal swipes, students will have access to the chicken sandwich meals available through the chain. Of course, students and community members are permitted to pay for food using cash or a card.
When asked if the location would offer a full menu, Grimm explained that Chick-fil-A is gradual when it comes to menu expansion. “With Chick-fil-A, they open you slowly. After you have been open for a year, you graduate to offer more items.”
Once the location has been opened for a year the location could begin to offer services such as catering or even some of the Chick-fil-A breakfast items. Currently, the GCC Chick-fil-A offers a variety of chicken sandwiches, nuggets, salads and of course, fries.
With the opening of the location on Monday, Grimm said they were not sure what to prepare for given both students and community members can visit the store. It would seem they had nothing to worry about, however, as the newly opened location served 1,200 meals that day. “We exceeded the number of expected meals, which was positive because it showed we could handle the service”.
Grimm was very thankful for the opening team Chick-fil-A had on hand to assist new employees in the kitchen on opening day, “they help to get the location on the ground and running, they were very helpful.
If guests are worried about long wait times, however, the location offers two kiosks and three registers to order from. Once the orders are placed, the cheerful team members working behind the scenes are quick to have food ready and handed off with a smile.
As for the competition offering burgers in the area, watch out, because it seems people might be eating more chicken.
