Northwest Mississippi Community College announced Thursday, Jan. 13 plans to open Chick-Fil-A at its main campus in Senatobia.
The restaurant is slated to open in August 2022 and will be located inside the McLendon Center. Although, the restaurant will not feature one of its famous drive-thrus, it will be a full-service dine-in facility with 150 seats. Chick-Fil-A currently operates 2,723 restaurants in 47 states.
Dr. Andrew Dale, Associate Vice President of Community Relations for the college said many service options will be available to the public.
“It will be full service,” said Dale. “It will be a place for people to come in, sit, down and eat, or pick up will be available. It will offer curb side pick-up, and I believe it will be compatible with the Chick-Fil-A app.”
Dale said there would be the possibility for delivery service.
“There is the potential for mobile delivery. Several companies exist which could handle it; so there’s the possibility,” said Dale.
Chick-Fil-A will not function on the same schedule as the college and will operate independently from school hours. It will be open year-round, even while the campus is closed for holidays; however, Chick-Fil-A will continue to be closed on Sundays observing the same policies as the other stores in the restaurant chain.
Dale said talks with Chick-Fil-A corporate operations began last fall. Although, the restaurant chain based out of Georgia does not usually open locations at community colleges NWCC was an exception.
“They flew out and visited campus. With our 1200 beds for students on campus and more projected, we are as large or larger than some of the 4-year colleges at which they already have locations. Just by the sheer number of people, residents and student athletics, they were impressed,” said Dale.
Dale said the partnership will not only benefit the college but the entire community.
“The college is more than excited to host this great company and partner with them to bring this restaurant not only to campus and to our students, but to the community and Tate County,” said Dale.
Renovations to part of the McLendon Center are slated to begin in the Spring of 2022. Additionally, parking availability will be included in the remodeling.
“Modifying the current parking areas will be addressed, but we have plenty of time to complete it,” said Dale.
According to a release from the college, the partnership is based on a long-term agreement with Aladdin Food Services, which also runs the college’s current food services located in the Haraway Center.
“This is an incredible opportunity for Northwest Mississippi Community College,” said Northwest President, Dr. Michael Heindl. “Signing this partnership with Chick-fil-A aligns with our college mission, which is to ‘positively transform student lives, enrich the communities we serve and strive for excellence in every program and service.’”
