First Chick-fil-A restaurant in Thurston County is set to open Thursday in Lacey
Chick-fil-A, a fast-food business that has developed a devoted following for its chicken sandwiches, is set to open its first location in Lacey on Thursday, the business announced.
The new restaurant can be found at 8302 Quinault Drive NE, or just off Marvin Road near the northbound exit to I-5. The business will employ 100 people and operate 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
The business is closed Sundays because of founder Truett Cathy’s Christian faith, according to Business Insider.
The owner of the Lacey franchise is Justin Mears, according to a news release. Originally from South Carolina, Mears now lives in Lacey with his family.
Mears is a former Naval aviator and instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy.
“I’m honored to bring a veteran-owned small business to Lacey and to introduce the greater Thurston County region to the Chick-fil-A brand,” said Mears in a statement. Mears could not be reached Monday.
Although the county is gaining a new business, it also lost one in the process.
Hawks Prairie Restaurant and Sports Bar, which previously occupied the site for years, was closed and demolished to make way for the new fast-food business.
Lacey resident Candice Schibel even tried to save the business last fall by collecting signatures.
“We have plenty of fast-food restaurants in Lacey and Olympia, but we don’t have a lot of sit-down family restaurants,” Schibel told The Olympian last year.
There have been other controversies involving Chick-fil-A.
The San Antonio City Council booted Chick-fil-A from its location at San Antonio International Airport in 2019 after reports about donations from the Atlanta-based fast-food chain to charities with a history of discrimination against gay and transgender groups, The Dallas Morning News reports.
A deal between the city and FAA finally was reached that allows the restaurant to return to the airport, the newspaper reports. The story also notes “Chick-fil-A said in 2012 it would stop donating to anti-gay groups.”
The company said in an email Tuesday morning that as of last fall the Chick-fil-A Foundation introduced a more focused giving approach for 2020 to provide “additional clarity and impact with the causes it supports.”
The Chick-fil-A Foundation now focuses its giving to address needs facing children: education, homelessness and hunger, according to the email.
The business was founded by Cathy in 1967. It now has more than 2,500 locations in 47 states, Washington, D.C. and Canada.
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
