Chick-fil-A will open its restaurant near Publix next Wednesday and it will have a familiar owner-operator.
The quick-service chain announced Wednesday that David Boykin, who has been the owner-operator of the Chick-fil-A on Northside Drive since 2000, was selected as the local independent franchised owner. The restaurant will be called Chick-fil-A Eagles Corner.
“Statesboro has been home to my family and me for over two decades, and I want Chick-fil-A Eagles Corner to be a place where people can grow – not just our team members, but our guests and community as well,” Boykin said. “I look forward to providing a space where everyone can create lasting memories.”
He will continue to operate the Northside Drive Chick-fil-A, as well, when the Eagles Corner restaurant opens May 8.
Located at 333 Tormenta Way at the corner of Akins Blvd., off the Bypass, the restaurant will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Also, the new restaurant will feature “Mobile Thru,” a fully dedicated lane in the drive-thru where guests can pick up orders placed ahead of time on the Chick-fil-A App.
“Chick-fil-A’s franchise model is essential to how the restaurant serves others,” Wednesday’s release stated. “Most Chick-fil-A restaurants are owned and operated by a single individual, which means Chick-fil-A’s local owner-operators are small business owners, not passive investors, who work in their restaurants side by side with their Team Members each day.”
A the Eagles Corner Chick-fil-A, Boykin will be responsible for all day-to-day activities of the business, including employing approximately 100 full- and part-time employees, serving customers, cultivating relationships with local organizations and businesses, and tailoring philanthropic efforts to meet the Statesboro community’s needs.
Boykin is a Georgia native who first joined Chick-fil-A in 1997 when he became a local owner-operator in Hilton Head. After serving the Hilton Head community for three years, he took over the Chick-fil-A on Northside Drive in 2000.
According to the release, Chick-fil-A, Inc. has donated $25,000 to Feeding America in honor of the new restaurant. The funds will be distributed to partners in the greater Savannah area to aid in the fight against hunger.
Also, Boykin’s restaurant will participate in the “Chick-fil-A Shared Table” program, an initiative that redirects surplus food from the restaurant to local soup kitchens, shelters, food banks and nonprofits in need. To date, more than 25 million meals have been created from Chick-fil-A Shared Table donations from over 2,000 Chick-fil-A restaurants throughout the U.S. and Canada, the release states.
In addition, Chick-fil-A Eagles Corner will recognize 100 local heroes making an impact in the Statesboro area by providing them with free entrées for a year.
Chick-fil-A, Inc. is the third largest quick-service restaurant company in the United States. More than 200,000 are employed by independent owner-operators in more than 3,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. In 2023, the company said it would expand by 2030 into Europe and Asia.
The family-owned and privately held company was founded in 1967 by S. Truett Cathy.