🔒Chick-fil-A spreading its wings to Biddeford

Chick-fil-A is gearing up to open a Biddeford location, marking the fast-food chain's fourth restaurant in Maine. The announcement comes about a month after the company, known for its chicken sandwiches and nuggets, started construction on a location in South Portland. Construction is underway on the standalone restaurant at 150 Shops Way, located at the Shops at Biddeford Crossing on the site of the former Olive Garden, which closed in 2016 and was demolished earlier this year.

Biddeford Crossing is owned by DSM Realty, a Tewksbury, Mass.-based company that also owns the Market Basket grocery chain.

Growing footprint

A spokesperson for Chick-fil-A told Mainebiz in an email Tuesday that the company will announce an opening date later this year for the 4,900-square-foot restaurant. The project is being developed by Construction Management and Builders Inc., a Beverly, Mass.-based construction management and general contracting firm. Chick-fil-A said each restaurant creates 80 to 120 jobs. The Biddeford location will expand Chick-fil-A’s footprint in Maine. The company opened its first Maine restaurant in Bangor in 2016 and later added a location at Rock Row in Westbrook. When the Westbrook restaurant opened in 2021, customers lined up for hours and traffic backed up on nearby roads. The South Portland location is under construction in the parking lot of the Maine Mall Plaza, near Macy’s. Chick-fil-A was founded by S. Truett Cathy, who opened the first restaurant in 1967 in Atlanta. Today, the company is based in suburban Atlanta and operates around 3,000 restaurants in 48 states.