Chicken Salad Chick was preparing to finally open its long-awaited Olney restaurant on Wednesday, Sept. 23, complete with five days of giveaways and free food for some of its earliest customers.
There’s just one fairly important thing missing.
Electricity.
The owners of the new restaurant at 18209 Village Center Drive in the Olney Village Center announced that the grand opening has been delayed until at least mid-October because they are still waiting for power.
And they aren’t hiding their frustration.
“Olney Chick Friends…WE HAVE A PROBLEM,” owners Jim Schleckser and Carrie Tydings wrote in announcing the latest setback.
“To open, we need power, which we hoped to have by now and have patiently waited and repeatedly escalated through every possible channel,” they continued.
According to the owners, the Olney Chamber of Commerce and Montgomery County Councilmember Dawn Luedtke’s office have also attempted to help resolve the issue, but to no avail.
“At this point, we are being told mid-October is our revised opening day target,” they said.
Target being the operative word.
The Sept. 23 grand opening had appeared to put an end to a months-long waiting game for Chicken Salad Chick fans in Montgomery County.
Plans for the Olney restaurant have repeatedly shifted, with an opening initially eyed for March, then pushed to May, and finally to early September.
This time, things appeared considerably more concrete.
Chicken Salad Chick formally announced earlier this month that the restaurant would open at 10 a.m. on Sept. 23, kicking off five consecutive days of promotions.
The first 100 customers in line on opening day were supposed to receive free chicken salad for a year, with the first customer getting a large Quick Chick each week and the next 99 receiving one each month.
Tumblers, coolers, cookies, cutting boards, kitchen towels and tote bags were also slated to be handed out through Sunday, Sept. 27.
Those plans are now on ice along with the opening date.
“Again, we HATE to do this, and we are as disappointed as you,” the owners wrote. “Alas, we need power to give you the Chicken Salad Chick experience you deserve.”
Despite the latest setback, Schleckser and Tydings made one thing clear.
“We WILL OPEN….just (much) later than we had hoped.”
The Olney restaurant is set to become Chicken Salad Chick’s second location in Maryland, following its Westminster restaurant at 255 Baltimore Boulevard.
Schleckser and Tydings, an engaged couple and first-time franchise owners, have more than three decades of combined business leadership experience and had been searching for the right location before settling on Olney.
Once the lights finally come on, the restaurant is expected to offer dine-in service, takeout, delivery and catering.
Chicken Salad Chick has more than 345 restaurants across 25 states.
A firm opening date has not been announced.
Click here
to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
Dining and Cooking