Petal residents asked for it, and they got it.
The new Chick-fil-A restaurant located at 1156 Evelyn Gandy Parkway, next to McDonald’s, is set to open at 6:30 a.m. January 5. The restaurant is owned and operated by Anna Johnson, a Petal resident who brought a mobile Chick-fil-A unit to the city on a few occasions.
“It is a go,” Mayor Tony Ducker said. “I think it’s a great thing; there’s some growing pains that we’ll have to deal with, but we’ve got some more growth that’s going to take place on that side of the road.
“The landscape there is changing. While that’s a good thing, we’ve got to do our due diligence to make it as good as it can be from a traffic standpoint, from an economic standpoint, and cover every facet of this and take advantage of the opportunities we’re getting right now.”
Customers can expect the usual Chick-fil-A fare, including several varieties of chicken sandwiches; breakfast items such as chicken biscuits; salads; waffle fries; fruit cups; desserts; and chicken nuggets. Hours of operation will be from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday for dine-in, drive-through and carryout.
To celebrate the opening of the restaurant, Chick-fil-A officials will donate $25,000 to Feeding America. Those funds will be distributed to partners in the greater Petal area to aid in the fight against hunger.
In addition, Chick-fil-A will recognize 100 local heroes by providing them with free meals for a year, and will participate in the Chick-fil-A Shared Table Program, which redirects surplus food from the restaurant to local soup kitchens, shelters, food banks and nonprofit organizations.
The new store will employ approximately 120 full- and part-time workers.
“Being part of the Chick-fil-A family has been a wonderful blessing,” Johnson said. “I am so lucky to call Petal home and raise my two children here, and I am eternally grateful to become the operator of Petal’s own Chick-fil-A.
“I’ve had many wonderful opportunities to help, influence and serve communities in my home state through Chick-fil-A, and I look forward to partnering with local nonprofit organizations and the school system in Petal while offering a fun and inviting work environment for our team members.”
Because the new restaurant is expected to draw heavy traffic along the parkway and service road, city officials have already met with Petal Police Department officers to help control that situation.
“We expect some chaos, but some of it we just don’t know until we see it,” Ducker said. “We’re in the process of making sure that we’ve got some police officers out there.
“These will be some officers that (Chick-fil-A) will actually pay, so there won’t be any cost to the taxpayer. We’re trying to stay ahead of it as best we can.”
Ducker said the visits from the mobile Chick-fil-A units, which set up shop at places like First Baptist Church, were a hit with residents.
“It went over well,” he said. “It’s nice to see their hard work pay off.”
Chick-fil-A, which is headquartered in College Park, Georgia, operates 2,897 restaurants across 49 states, as well as in Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. The company also has operations in Canada, and previously had restaurants in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
For more information on the Petal location, visit https://www.restaurantji.com/ms/petal/chick-fil-a-/.
