As the Lake Brandon Village Chick-fil-A celebrates 25 years of serving the community, it also thanks its customers for being loyal for so many years.
When owners Paul and Tammy opened the location on June 18, 1998, it was the first freestanding Chick-fil-A in Brandon and only the second freestanding Chick-fil-A in the Greater Tampa Bay area. During construction, staff were hired out of a trailer on-site. The Brandon mall was just about to open, the Lowe’s Home Improvement Center hadn’t broken ground yet and there were fields for miles around.
“We didn’t know a soul,” Tammy said. “We opened a little Chick-fil-A and we didn’t know if it would be successful or not because it was on Lumsden and there were still cows grazing next door when we opened.”
Fast-forward 25 years and there isn’t an empty space for miles, and the Lake Brandon Village Chick-fil-A now has more than 80 employees. Throughout the years, the store has been renovated twice, most recently adding the double drive-through lanes and the covered drive-through area with podium ordering. In 2017, Paul and Tammy also opened the Bloomingdale Chick-fil-A store near Bloomingdale High School and instantly found success with both locations.
“Both Paul and I are proud of what we have accomplished over the last 25-year journey in the Brandon community,” said Tammy, “and have seen many great changes in the area.”
Paul has now been a veteran franchise owner and operator for over 31 years with Chick-fil-A. He moved to the Brandon area from Racine, Wisconsin with his wife and four school-aged children to open the Brandon location. When they moved into the community, the family immediately became involved in local schools, local sports and local community events. The Chick-fil-A cow could be seen walking in community events, 5K races, school and church carnivals and anywhere the community gathered. This community involvement has resulted in numerous community awards including the trifecta, the Alice B. Tompkins Community Service Award, Brandon’s Key Citizen of the Year and Riverview’s Key Citizen.
Longtime customer Leslie Haxton, who loves the two locations, said, “Chick-fil-A is like Cheers, where everyone knows your name.”
She orders a large Coke every day “because Chick-fil-A has the best ice, cups and syrup mixture,” and she pairs it with the famous chicken minis.
The first Chick-fil-A store opened in 1967 in Atlanta, Georgia and the company now operates 2,909 restaurants across 48 states, as well as in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Chick-fil-A Lake Brandon Village is located 11325 Causeway Blvd. in Brandon and Chick-fil-A Brandon South is located at 2010 Bloomingdale Ave. in Valrico.
Visit www.chickfilabrandon.com, stop by the restaurant or check it out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/chickfilabrandon.
