Chick-fil-A’s long lines affecting other retailers
When Cache County’s Chick-fil-A re-opened after several months of being closed, it seemed like everyone in the valley was ecstatic. The small business owners who share the parking lot with Chick-fil-A noticed the valley’s excitement — and how customers’ excitement affected business.
Since reopening, the restaurant has had huge lines that reach the other retailers in the back of the parking lot; stores like Costa Vida, Crumbl Cookies and Sweetly Divine.
Mark Grodkowski, the owner of Sweetly Divine, shared this Facebook post the day Chick-fil-A reopened for business.
https://www.facebook.com/119606001970/photos/a.10154953994766971/10158732172811971/
He said he’s happy for Chick-fil-A’s success, but he can’t believe the lines.
“I’m excited for successful people, but you have to accommodate for traffic,” he said. “People in cars get upset and yell and flip each other off. What is this world coming to? It’s just chicken.”
Grodkowski, a pastry chef from Poland, jokingly said some of Chick-fil-A’s customers are willing to wait in line for 20 minutes just for a cup of lemonade.
“It’s about the lemonade,” he said. “Make your own. It’s not hard, you just need lemons and sugar and water.”
He suggested that another Chick-fil-A be opened at the south end of the valley to alleviate the amount of customers. Chick-fil-A is located across from the Cache Valley Mall on Main Street.
Grodkowski said Chick-fil-A’s owner stopped by shortly after re-opening and tried to buy everything in the shop to make up for the trouble caused by long lines. Grodkowski said he appreciated the gesture, but it was the customers who were causing the stress.
The Statesman was unable to reach Chick-fil-A for comment.
“People are animals like cows,” Grodkowski said, laughing. “They should be dressed up as cows and line up. Eat more chicken.”
Grodkowski said Chick-fil-A’s lines surprised him, as they are there from morning to evening.
“I don’t think there’s enough people in the valley,” he said. “I think they come in the morning, go home and digest, come for lunch, go home to digest and then come again for dinner.”
Grodkowski said it’s difficult for local places to thrive in the valley because people seem to like the chain restaurants.
“There are so many jewels in the valley with different foods, but people here like chain restaurants,” he said. “They’re even adding an In-N-Out. How many burger places are we gonna need?”
He added: “It’s OK, everybody likes different things.”
Grodkowski believes the only thing that will shorten Chick-fil-A’s lines might be the opening of In-N-Out.
Grodkowski said he loves the people of Cache Valley and thanks them for their support. He added that Sweetly Divine will be closing for two weeks, and not because of Chick-fil-A.
The shop is closing to fill a huge jelly order for Crumbl Cookies.
Crumbl is releasing a new cookie in December. The company asked Sweetly Divine to provide the jelly for all of their locations.
There aren’t enough employees at the shop to stay open while they fill the large order, Grodkowski said. He added that he’s both excited and stressed about the opportunity.
In the meantime, he said, Chick-fil-A’s customers will at least be able to notice Sweetly Divine while they wait in the long line for chicken and lemonade.
Crumbl Cookies, just around the corner from Sweetly Divine, has also noticed the long lines.
Employee Josh Throckmorten said a few customers have complained about the lines and the wait.
“It’s been pretty busy,” he said. “It’s slowed down a little, so it’s long, but not as crazy as it was that first week they reopened.”
Throckmorten said if anything, Chick-fil-A’s reopening has helped business.
“When Chick-fil-A originally closed, it was slower for us because people usually go there and get cookies after,” he said. “So we’ve been getting more people now coming and getting an after-meal dessert.”
Throckmorten doesn’t think the lines will hurt business during the holidays.
“Our busiest time is December. We’re always busy around holidays,” he said. “I don’t think it’ll affect us too much because people get more cookies in the winter. January is our hard time because of New Year’s resolutions and people don’t eat cookies as much.”
@HarrisKarcin