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Peachtree – Fans of America’s most popular fast food chain now have regular access to its famous chicken sandwiches in Cherokee County.
Chick-fil-A opened a distribution site Monday on the Tri-County Community College campus. While the location has a condensed menu and limited hours of operation, it is open to students and the outside community alike.
“We hope people in the community will come and take advantage of it,” said Dr. Donna Tipton-Rogers, president of Tri-County Community College off U.S. 64 East Alternate.
Tri-County’s Chick-fil-A will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. – or until food supplies are exhausted each day – Monday through Friday inside the school’s Harper Building. Some menu items are not available, including waffle fries and ice cream products, because the food is not prepared on site.
“We thought this would probably be the easiest and best way to get something open quickly,” Tipton-Rogers said. “We’ll see what happens and if they need to expand the operation on site, but for now I think we’ve got a good setup.”
Chick-fil-A has been named America’s favorite fast-food chain for seven years in a row, according to an annual study by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Tri-County’s restaurant is located in what used to be a student lounge and features its own exterior doors, so customers from the community have direct access. Face masks are required inside the building.
Tipton-Rogers said the restaurant’s Monday opening was a little bit ahead of schedule, as the company did not even have all of its signage in place at the time.
“It was a surprise to us today, to be honest,” she said. “They came to do their final walk-through today and were like, ‘We’re just going to start today.’ They are booming down there right now.”
Tipton-Rogers said her daughter Lochlan Rogers championed the idea of bringing Chick-fil-A to the campus after they attended a volleyball game at Young Harris (Ga.) College, which features a Chick-fil-A Express on its campus.
Rogers is a junior at Murphy High School but also takes classes at Tri-County through dual enrollment. She had the honor of being the Tri-County Chick-fil-A’s first customer right after it opened.
“She actually had a public speaking class, and I called her when it was over and said, ‘You better come over, they’re opening,’ ” Tipton-Rogers said. “She was excited.”
Tipton-Rogers also credited the college’s chief financial officer, Bill Vespasian, and chief strategic advisor, Paul Worley, for the work they did in bringing the restaurant to the campus.
Previously, Chick-fil-A was only available in the county as a sponsor of Andrews High School athletics.