New Chick-fil-A location now open in Auburn

Drive-thru focused restaurant brings 110 jobs to community

CONTRIBUTED TO THE OBSERVER

AUBURN — A new Chick-fil-A restaurant is now open at 2124 E. University Drive, adjacent to the Auburn Mall.

Will Bowling is the independent franchised local owner-operator of Chick-fil-A Auburn, which will be open Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Designed for speed and efficiency, this drive-thru-focused location offers added convenience to serve guests through its drivethru and a walk-up window for carry-out.

Chick-fil-A’s local owneroperators are small business owners, not passive investors, who work in their restaurants side by side with their team members each day. Bowling will be responsible for all day-to-day activities of the business, including employing approximately 110 full- and parttime team members.

Bowling began his career with Chick-fil-A over 18 years ago, starting as a team member at just

14 years old. Following college graduation, Bowling was inspired by his uncle, David Clark, a local owner-operator based in Macon, Georgia, to pursue the opportunity to own his own Chick-fil-A restaurant. In 2014, Bowling began serving as a leader at a Chick-fil-A in Woodstock, Georgia, and later joined the Chick-fil-A Leadership Development Program. During these years, he gained valuable experience leading and supporting the openings of several new restaurants across the country. In 2018, he was selected as the local owner-operator of Chick-fil-A Auburn Mall. Under his leadership, Bowling’s team has earned several company-wide awards in recognition of their exceptional service and hospitality.

“I’m so grateful for this new opportunity to deepen our relationship with our guests in Auburn,” said Bowling. “My wife and I have planted roots here. We’ve raised our family here, so it’s special to us to be able to continue serving in a community that is truly our home.”

In celebration of the opening,

Chick-fil-A Inc. has donated $25,000 to Feeding America in honor of the new restaurant. These funds will be distributed to local partners to aid in the fight against hunger.

The Chick-fil-A business is built to add positive impact beyond profit, including giving back to local communities. Chick-fil-A owner-operators live and work in the communities their restaurants serve, each supporting local efforts to address hunger, education and making a positive impact.

Bowling’s restaurant is participating in the Chick-fil-A Shared Table program, an initiative that redirects surplus food from the restaurant to local soup kitchens, shelters, food banks and nonprofits in need. To date, more than 25 million meals have been created from Chickfil-A Shared Table donations from over 2,000 Chick-fil-A restaurants throughout the U.S. and Canada.

In addition, at the grand opening, Chick-fil-A Auburn recognized 100 local heroes making an impact in the Auburn area by providing them with free Chick-fil-A entrées for a year.

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About Chick-fil-A Inc.

Chick-fil-A Inc. is the third largest quick-service restaurant company in the United States. The family-owned and privately held company and @ ChickfilANews.