MORRIS PLAINS — Chick-fil-A has selected Drew Blind as the local franchise owner of the chain’s Morris Plains restaurant as hiring of up to 125 new Team Members is under way in preparation for the projected June grand opening.
When Blind’s stand-alone Chick-fil-A location opens at 1711 Route 10 East it will be a homecoming for the New Jersey native who is relocating from the chain’s location inside Garden State Plaza in Paramus.
Blind, who grew up in Morris County, is excited to return to his hometown where numerous family members reside and where his Chick-fil-A career began. A Team Member at the chain’s location in Howell, Blind worked at Chick-fil-A as a teen and during breaks while attending college at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania.
After graduating with a degree in business management, Blind and his wife, Colleen, moved to South Carolina where he worked on the leadership team at a Charleston Chick-fil-A restaurant until his wife’s career brought them back to Pennsylvania.
Blind knew early on that Chick-fil-A’s focus of freshly prepared food, genuine hospitality and having a positive impact on the communities it serves matched his entrepreneurial goals. Blind became director of operations at the chain’s location in Nazareth and began his pursuit of owning his own restaurant while also serving on corporate teams helping open new locations around the country. His dream of owning his own restaurant was realized when he was selected to operate Paramus location in 2015.
The new 4,700-square-foot Chick-fil-A location in Morris Plains will offer indoor seating for 102 and patio seating for 20 as well as a two-story playground for children. The interior will feature the chain’s heritage restaurant interior design that showcases handmade, authentic materials for a vintage-inspired interior, including subway tiles, large windows to let in natural light and a large gathering table made from reclaimed wood. A single drive-thru ordering lane will divide into two lanes for ordering to enhance the chain’s award-winning drive-thru service before merging back into a single lane for pickup. The new restaurant will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Like all Chick-fil-A restaurants, it will be closed on Sunday.
Blind has begun hiring as many as 125 Team Members as he builds his Morris Plains staff. He is filling full-time and part-time positions in all areas of the restaurant, including leadership development, hospitality, catering, training, and marketing. Each position will include benefits such as scholarships for continuing education. In addition, Chick-fil-A restaurant team members appreciate having Sundays off, flexible schedules, and the family atmosphere fostered at the restaurant.
Named one of the “best places to work” by Glassdoor, Chick-fil-A is known for hiring and retaining talent and offering a supportive workplace with opportunities for leadership development, respect for work-life balance and competitive wages.
Chick-fil-A Team Members are eligible for the chain’s initiative, Remarkable Futures. In 2019, more than 6,000 Team Members will be awarded with $15.3 million in scholarships, one of the highest unrestricted per employee scholarship investments in the industry. Team Members, who are beginning or continuing their higher education, are awarded scholarships in the amount of $2,500 or $25,000 which can be applied to any area of study at any accredited institution. In addition, Team Members have access to tuition discounts and other educational benefits at more than 100 colleges and universities nationwide.
Interested applicants can learn more by visiting www.snagajob.com or www.glassdoor.com and searching for Chick-fil-A Morris Plains. Follow the new restaurant on Facebook at Chick-fil-A at Morris Plains for updates on grand opening events.
Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A, Inc. is a family owned and privately held restaurant company founded in 1967 by S. Truett Cathy. Devoted to serving the local communities in which its franchised restaurants operate, and known for its original chicken sandwich, Chick-fil-A serves freshly prepared food in more than 2,428 restaurants in 47 states and Washington, D.C. Chick-fil-A reported more than $10 billion in revenue in 2018, which marks 51 consecutive years of sales growth. A leader in customer service satisfaction, consumers voted Chick-fil-A, Inc. fourth in Harris Poll’s annual corporate reputation survey, ranking the company fourth out of 100 in 2018. Chick-fil-A was also recognized for customer experience again in the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings survey, was named “Best Franchise Brand” in 2018 by Airport Revenue News and was named one of the top 100 best places to work by Glassdoor in 2017. Continuing its founder’s legacy of generosity and service, in 2019 Chick-fil-A’s Remarkable Futures initiative awarded $15.3 million in scholarships to restaurant Team Members nationwide. In 2018 the company’s philanthropic Chick-fil-A Foundation awarded $1.23 million to 22 not-for-profit organizations across 18 states through the True Inspiration Awards. More information on Chick-fil-A is available at www.chick-fil-a.com.
