Chicken Lovers Brave the Rain for Brookfield Chick-fil-A "First 100" Giveaway

Press release:

Brookfield Restaurant Creates 80 New Jobs, Awards Year Supply of Chick-fil-A Meals to First 100

BROOKFIELD, Conn. (Oct. 9, 2014) – Connecticut’s first Chick-fil-A® restaurant will open Oct. 9, bringing 80 new jobs, the chance for 100 adults in line on grand opening morning to win free Chick-fil-A meals for a year, and the opportunity for the community to donate new children’s books to support the Brookfield Public School District. .

After 11 years and more than $21.5 million in free food given away, Chick-fil-A’s “First 100” celebration continues to be the chain’s signature grand opening event, which transforms the restaurant parking lot into a 24-hour community friendly party as the crowd awaits the opening.

The new Brookfield restaurant at 156 Federal Road will host the next First 100 event that will award a total of $30,000 in free food. A digital offer card loaded with a one-year supply of free Chick-fil-A® Meals will be given to each of the first 100 eligible adults, ages 18 and older with identification, in line when the doors open about 6 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9. If more than 100 people are onsite when the line officially opens at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 8, then all 100 spots will be determined by a drawing held that morning with those selected needing to camp out for 24 hours to secure their spot. This event is only open to guests that live in specific zip codes surrounding the restaurant and interested participants may obtain a complete listing of zip codes and rules online at Chick-fil-A First 100 Promotion. [Editor’s note: This event already happened. Click here for info]

Chick-fil-A believes in partnering with individuals and organizations that work to enrich education, literacy and youth. In that spirit, Brookfield Chick-fil-A Operator Devon Scanlon is collecting new children’s books at her restaurant on Wednesday, Oct. 8, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Brookfield Public Schools District has been selected by Scanlon to receive the nearly three-foot-high Book House. The new books collected during the grand opening celebration will be placed in the Book House to serve as a free library exchange – allowing anyone to take a book after replacing it with one of their own. The Book House, created from old and thrown out wood, is one of several community programs and opportunities being made possible through the generous support of the Chick-fil-A Foundation (www.chick-fil-afoundation.org).

The new Brookfield stand-alone Chick-fil-A restaurant is the first of four Connecticut locations slated to open within the next six months. A second stand-alone restaurant in Wallingford and a restaurant inside Danbury Fair Mall will open Nov. 6, while a stand-alone restaurant is slated for Enfield in early 2015. The new locations are part of a New England expansion which will bring the first stand-alone Chick-fil-A restaurants to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut this year.

The new Brookfield location will make it easier for area residents to “Eat Mor Chikin.” Currently the closest Chick-fil-A restaurant is about 70 miles away inside the Paramus Park Shopping Center in Paramus, N.J., and the closest stand-alone Chick-fil-A restaurant is about 85 miles away in Chicopee, Mass.

The opening of Connecticut’s first Chick-fil-A restaurant will create 80 new jobs. Featuring the chain’s newest interior and kitchen design, the new location can seat 109 in the dining room with additional outside patio seating. The restaurant includes dual drive-thru ordering lanes to expand the chain’s award-winning drive-thru service. It enables motorists to place their orders at separate screens and then merge into a single lane to pay for and pick up their orders. With a majority of customers at Chick-fil-A stand-alone restaurants choosing drive thru, the ability for two drivers to simultaneously order will mean quicker service.

Customers will be able to stay connected through the restaurant’s free Wi-Fi and parents will appreciate the indoor play area that includes an interactive section for toddlers. The restaurant is open Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to

10 p.m., serving a full breakfast menu until 10:30 a.m. Like all Chick-fil-A restaurants, it will be closed on Sunday.

Scanlon, a Brookfield High School graduate, earned her bachelor’s degree in sports management from Elon University and her MBA from North Carolina State University. She began exploring Chick-fil-A as a career option while working in the hospitality industry at the urging of her brother-in-law who operates a Chick-fil-A location in Tennessee. The more she learned about the chain, the more convinced she became that it was the right fit for her. With her parents still residing in Brookfield, Scanlon and her husband, John, and their infant son are thrilled to be opening Connecticut’s first Chick-fil-A restaurant in her hometown.

“Personalized customer service and freshly prepared food have been the hallmarks of Chick-fil-A since the day founder

S. Truett Cathy opened his first restaurant,” said Scanlon. “My team members and I couldn’t be more honored and excited to continue that legacy with our customers in Brookfield and throughout Connecticut.”

Perfecting a recipe his mother used in her Atlanta boarding house, Cathy first served his boneless breast-of-chicken sandwich, pressured cooked and served on a buttered bun with two crucial pickles, at his Dwarf Grill restaurant, which opened in 1946 in Hapeville, Ga. It was the signature menu item when the first Chick-fil-A restaurant opened in 1967 inside an Atlanta mall. Though joined by many other menu options over the years, the Chick-fil-A sandwich remains the centerpiece of the menu as the chain has grown to more than 1,858 restaurants in 41 states and Washington D.C.

The new Chick-fil-A in Brookfield is one of 93 new restaurants the chain plans to open across the country in 2014, creating more than 7,400 new jobs. Chick-fil-A continued to grow in 2013, increasing the number of new restaurants initially planned for the year and reporting record-setting annual sales of more than $5 billion, the 47th consecutive year of sales growth since the company began in 1967.

For more information on the new Brookfield Chick-fil-A restaurant, visit www.chick-fil-a.com/brookfield or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CFAbrookfield.

About Chick-fil-A, Inc.
Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A, Inc. is a family owned and privately held company dedicated to serving the communities in which its restaurants operate. Credited with inventing the chicken sandwich, Chick-fil-A serves nutritious, freshly prepared food in more than 1,858 restaurants in 41 states and Washington, D.C.

Founded by S. Truett Cathy in 1967, Chick-fil-A produced sales of $5 billion in 2013. Chick-fil-A was recognized in 2013 as one of America’s “Most Inspiring Companies” by Forbes Magazine and “Best Places to Work” by Glassdoor™, among other honors. More information on Chick-fil-A is available on the chain’s website, located at www.chick-fil-a.com.

Photo: Brookfield Chick-fil-A

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