Photo / William Hall
Earlier this week, the Chick-fil-A eatery at Rock Row in Westbrook was almost ready to open.
October 29, 2021
With fast food opening at Rock Row, it's time to count your chickens
Courtesy / City of Westbrook
Westbrook Mayor Michael T. Foley speaks at a ribbon-cutting Thursday for the new Chick-fil-A restaurant at Rock Row. Behind him, a stream of drive-thru customers wait to place their orders.
By William Hall
People lined up for as long as two hours Thursday at the Rock Row development in Westbrook, but not because of the morning’s news that a $75 million convention center is coming to the site.
No, they waited for chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, chicken biscuits and even chicken noodle soup. All are on the menu at the new Chick-fil-A restaurant that opened for drive-thru service at 6:30 a.m., and is only the second Maine franchise among the 2,600-restaurant chicken-food chain.
The first opened in Bangor five years ago, according to the Chick-fil-A Inc. publicity portal, the Chicken Wire.
Chick-fil-A expects the 5,200-square-foot Westbrook restaurant, with 98 seats, to employ about 100 full- and part-timers when completely staffed up.
The private company, based in Atlanta, dates to 1967 and today is still run by the family of the late founder, S. Truett Cathy. Revenues in 2020 reached $12.8 billion. That figure ranks Chick-fil-A behind only McDonald’s and Starbucks among the largest U.S. fast-food companies, according to trade magazine QSR.
Chick-fil-A has added roughly 600 of its restaurants since 2016, and 107 of them in 2020 alone. The chain covers every state but Alaska, Hawaii and Vermont.
Brad Terrell, the Rock Row franchise owner/operator, said the company saw some upside in southern Maine.
“Our Chick-fil-A real estate team is constantly evaluating potential new locations for expansion and southern Maine represents a tremendous opportunity for us,” he told Mainebiz by email.
Chick-fil-A isn’t alone in flocking to Maine. In July, plans were announced to add four Jersey Mike’s Subs shops in Brunswick, Saco, Topsham and Windham. Previously, there was only one, in Scarborough.
But the growth of those fast-food joints comes as other eateries are closing. Even before the pandemic shut down many restaurants, Aroostook County’s only three Burger King franchises closed permanently in February 2020. By the end of last year, four more had followed.
And not only are Chick-fil-A’s a rare bird. Many other chains in the QSR top 50 are species found nowhere in Maine.
In fact, fewer than half of the QSR top 50 fast-food companies have branches in the state, according to Mainebiz research. The branches total 568, or roughly 4 per 10,000 people. In 2018, a per capita ranking showed the state had the ninth-fewest fast-food restaurants in the country.
Dunkin’, which is based in Massachusetts and has long operated many franchises in the Northeast, counts 163 in Maine. Subway sandwich shops rank as the second-most numerous chain in the state, with 114, followed by McDonald’s, with 62.
Several other national chains operate two dozen or so eateries apiece: Burger King, Domino’s, Dairy Queen.
And if you’re looking for a Sonic milkshake, a Jack in the Box burger or a Jimmy John sandwich, you’re out of luck. Those chains, ranking Nos. 10, 15 and 29 on QSR's revenue list respectively, operate throughout most of the U.S. But not in Maine.
Back at Chick-fil-A, Georgia native Terrell was also from away, until a few years ago.
“I was introduced to New England while helping to open Chick-fil-A Seekonk [Massachusetts] in 2017. Right away, I knew New England is where I wanted to call home," he said. "My husband and I visited the future site of Chick-fil-A Rock Row that same season and set our sights on landing in Maine long-term.
"I was thrilled to be selected to operate Chick-fil-A Northshore Mall in 2018 and hoped it would be a stepping stone to bringing Chick-fil-A to southern Maine, and have been a proud New Englander ever since."
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to correct the location of a Chick-fil-A franchise.
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