If You Build a Chick-fil-A, They Will Come

Bob Gar drove most of the night from southern Ohio to be at the new Chick-fil-A restaurant in Strongsville by 6 a.m. Wednesday.

His plan? To spend the next 24 hours waiting -- in the rain and cold -- for the fast food eatery to officially open at 6 a.m. Thursday. 

Uh, why?

"To be one of the first 100 in line," he said with a shrug. "This is the fourth time I've done it. The third time in the winter."

And he wasn't alone. Dozens of tents lined the parking lot on Royalton Road Wednesday in what has become a Chick-fil-A tradition -- offering free meals for a year (52 certificates)  when a restaurant opens.

But for most people braving the brisk, rainy Wednesday in the parking lot, it wasn't entirely about the food.

"You get to hang out with your friends all day," said Michael Hermelin of Concord Township, who was attending his seventh Chick-fil-A opening.

Ahren Booher of Strongsville was one of the few newcomers.

"I kind of got talked into it," she said. "Everyone said it was fun."

She and her friends were huddled under umbrellas playing a board game to pass the time.

The company helps with that, too, providing games and other entertainment. The guests had a scavenger hunt and played bingo during the morning; in the evening, the restaurant brings in a DJ and organizes activities and dances. 

Everyone gets a free breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack courtesy of Chick-fil-A, too. Guests are allowed inside to warm up and use the restrooms.

The  at 6 a.m. Thursday. A formal ribbon-cutting is set for 9:30 a.m.

"I've seen people wait in much worse elements than this," said Harry McDonald, who works in marketing for Chick-fil-A, as he looked over the "tent city" outside.

Gar, one of the few people there without a tent, instead lounging in a chair under a couple umbrellas, once sat in a driving rainstorm during a "First 100 Celebration."

"If I could get through that, I'll make it through this," he said.

He and about 90 other people were there at 6 a.m. Wednesday to assure a spot in the first 100.

Matt Welch and Jim Watson of North Royalton weren't so anxious. Welch, who was at a Chick-fil-A opening in South Carolina, was surprised to see so many tents when he arrived in the afternoon.

"I didn't think anyone would be here in January," he said.

He was lucky -- he was No. 100 in line. Watson was 101, but he wasn't deterred.

"I'm banking on someone leaving," he said.