HANOVER — A popular fast-food chain will join a big-box retailer on Route 10 this week as the long-awaited redevelopment of an old Route 10 retail property continues in Whippany.
Chick-fil-A will open its third Morris County location on Thursday at the new Hanover Towne Center. BJ’s Wholesale debuted there last month.
The stores are occupying the site of the former Pine Plaza. Once anchored by a Foodtown grocery store, that shopping center closed in 2020 and was demolished in 2021.
The new Chick-fil-A franchise at the Hanover Towne Center on Route 10 in Whippany, seen two days prior to its grand opening scheduled for April 17.
Additional plans for the 23-acre site include 60 townhomes and three more available spaces likely to be filled by restaurants or shops.
Franchise owner Drew Blind is hoping for the same success in Whippany as he saw in 2019, when he opened Morris County’s first Chick-fil-A a few miles west on Route 10 in Morris Plains. The chain’s second Morris County outpost arrived last year in Parsippany.
“I was born and raised in East Hanover and graduated from Hanover Park High School,” Blind said at the Morris Plains opening. “This is honestly a life dream: get to serve the community and bring Chick-fil-A to Morris County.”
Offering new menu items including the return of the Smokehouse BBQ Bacon Sandwich and a new Pineapple Dragonfruit seasonal beverage, the Whippany restaurant will celebrate its grand opening at 6:30 a.m.
Regular hours going forward are 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. for dining in or carryout. The restaurant’s drive-through window will remain open until 10 p.m.
The family-owned company also is known for closing on Sundays due to Christian religious observances. It has also drawn criticism for its history of financial support for opponents of same-sex marriage and other LGTB causes.
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$25,000 to food bank
With the opening – and the approximately 100 jobs it creates – comes a $25,000 donation from the corporation to support the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. The Whippany franchise also will participate in the in the Chick-fil-AShared Table program, which redirects surplus food to local nonprofits.
In addition, the franchise will recognize “100 local heroes making an impact in the Whippany community by providing them with free Chick-fil-A entrées for a year,” the company said in a news release announcing the opening.
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Chick-fil-A opens at Route 10 mall, adding to Morris County locations