In order to get the newly hired crew cooks, servers and cashiers the practice they need ahead of Tuesday’s grand opening, he invited hundreds of former employees and other friends of Chick-Fil-A to come over for free food.
“I’m friends with most of them through Facebook and different avenues,” he says of the former employees. “We’ve got educators, administrators. Congressman Cawthorn he’ll be here tonight, coming back in, because he started when he was 14. … We’ve got people from all over. Two of my previous team members are now Chick-Fil-A operators. One’s got two stores in Fort Collins, Colorado, and another one’s got a store in Columbus, Ohio. This community has built this store. Hendersonville shouldn’t have two stores. It’s hard to believe.”
Aldi said it intends to open its discount grocery store at Philips Highway and Emerson Street in early 2021.
It will be the chain’s eighth store in Jacksonville and 12th in the area since opening its first in 2014 in St. Augustine.
Aldi opened its first Jacksonville store in 2015 in Southside Square and remodeled it in 2018.
“We look forward to continuing to provide residents the best grocery shopping experience,” said Matt Thon, Haines City division vice president for Aldi, in an emailed statement Dec. 21.
Aldi was built at the former site of a Wells Fargo bank branch at Philips Highway and Emerson Street .