An all new construction Chick-fil-A restaurant is proposed for Glassboro on Delsea Dr, to be located next to Matt Blatt Mitsubishi, on the property which was previously a bowling alley.
The sharply wedged property formed by Delsea Dr. and Main St. consists of three core properties. At the point is the Matt Black dealership, the middle space is targeted for the proposed Chick-fil-A, and the wider section is an Advanced Auto Parts store and the former Save-A- Lot.
A new project is also coming to the adjacent former Save-A-Lot supermarket building. I will write about that soon. I know what’s coming for the spot but I’m working on confirmation.
Four years ago the Matt Blatt dealership had taken over the bowling alley property.
Back in 2019 they were approved for upgrades to their dealership, extending the dealership parking lot into a portion of the bowling alley property, as well as leaving an area for a future fast food restaurant.
If you look at the site from overhead you could see that when they paved the property, they had left a center portion still grass covered, in anticipation of a future restaurant to be developed there.
And just to further lock in where we are talking about, the Matt Blatt dealership is directly across the street from the Monarch Diner, and the new Chick-fil-A would be at a slight angle across the street from the diner.
The timing of this Glassboro Zoning meeting is almost to the day that the brand new Vineland location is opening!
The Glassboro Zoning Board meeting is scheduled for May 18th and will be held at the municipal building in Glassboro.
Also, in March we reported on plans for a new Raising Cane’s restaurant planned for the closed Rite-Aid at Delsea and Donald Barger Blvd. That is very early stages and has not come to the town’s boards yet. Raising Cane’s has half a dozen locations “in play” for South Jersey, so it may be some time before we see action on Raising Cane’s.
Keep scrolling and reading for more on Chick-fil-A Glassboro!
Chick-Fil-A Glassboro
Rumors have been swirling in town about Chick-fil-A coming to Delsea Drive for a while now, but I wasn’t in a position to write about it unless I had additional confirmation.
“We need a Chick-fil-A” is also regularly commented in my new business stories for this section of Glassboro.
Needless to say, with the growing student population of nearby Rowan University, and the ongoing success of Glassboro’s Delsea Drive commercial corridor, it makes sense that Chick-fil-A wants to be located in the area.
I don’t think I need to say much about Chick-fil-A itself, as literally everyone has to know what it is!
They are the number one chicken restaurant in America focusing on chicken and Nuggets.
Chick-fil-A has a fanatical following which typically brings long lines to the drive-thru. An industry analysis shows the locations as high having one of the higher per-store-sales numbers in the entire fast food industry.
With drive-thru and food delivery services becoming more than norm in the industry as a whole, Chick-fil-A is looping back to many of its existing older restaurants, targeting extensive remodels to the interior of the stores and particularly the drive through experience.
Chick-fil-A is the only fast food restaurant in the area moving to a full dual lane drive-thru (where they can), meaning all the way through and even when paying you will have two dedicated lanes. To do this they are building a “walk-out” payment and food delivery door, where employees can walk over to your car under canopies, for you to pay and receive your food!
Mount Laurel recently completed it’s upgrades, with Deptford and Cross Keys also in the plans.
That being said I don’t yet know the full details of the proposed Glassboro location.
As mentioned the public meeting notice was just published today, so I do not have site plans yet. Glassboro is very good with making them available to the public but this is likely just too early, and they’ll be available in a few days. That being said I wanted to get the information out to the public.
The plans in Glassboro call for a 5,400 square foot restaurant with drive-thru, and associated parking.
The core use of a fast food restaurant for the property is already approved in the zoning.
But a variety of variances are requested, more so related to positioning the development within the slightly angled shaped property. These are mostly typical variance requests, related to buffers, parking and signage.
As I mentioned, when the Bowling Alley was demolished, cleared and paved… a center segment was left unpaved in anticipation of a future restaurant. I believe the new Chick-fil-A will likely adjust that positioning.
Links and Location
Chick-fil-A Glassboro (Proposed)
503 Delsea Drive
Glassboro NJ
Zoning Meeting Details
Thursday, May 18th at 7:00 P.M (in-person)
Glassboro Municipal Building
1 South Main Street
Glassboro, New Jersey