Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle
Land has already been cleared off U.S. 280 next to the Tractor Supply Co. store where a new Arby's and Buffalo Wild Wings will be built.
Two new restaurants are set to open later this year in Chelsea.
Representatives from Southern Wings Inc. were on hand at an April 5 groundbreaking to celebrate the upcoming openings of Arby’s and Buffalo Wild Wings on Atchison Road, just past Tractor Supply Co.
Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer thanked the crowd for being there and thanked the chamber and Chelsea Business Alliance, including new President Donna Bowles, for hosting the event.
“This is a great day for Chelsea,” Picklesimer said. “It takes so many different organizations and different people to come together to make something like this happen.”
Picklesimer thanked the landowner, real estate agent Gail Owen, 58 INC., the Shelby County Commission and the Chelsea City Council.
“You can take all of that, but it doesn’t do any good unless you have a couple of good entrepreneurs,” he said. “Sterling [Barbour] and Tim [Spencer], we can’t thank you enough. All of these pieces have to come together to make something like this happen. I am just so thankful I just get to sit back in the corner and watch all these people work and see it all happen.
“We are thankful, we appreciate you and we will support you in every way we can.”
Shelby County Commissioner Robbie Hayes, who represents Chelsea, said he is excited to see this take place.
“We are building a better community here for our kids here through Shelby County, and we appreciate the opportunity to partner with the city in doing several different things,” Hayes said. “Like the mayor, I get to sit back and watch this … and take the congratulations when it happens. The big workers are my county workers who do so much work with the city to make this happen.”
Joseph Palladino, a Chelsea resident who will be the general manager of the restaurants, said he has worked really hard on this project for quite some time and thanked Barbour and Spencer for their support.
“As a resident of Chelsea, I can’t tell you how excited we are to get on the ground and get involved in this community,” Palladino said. “There’s something special about Chelsea — I’ve never seen anything like it — it’s such a tight-knit community. We’re just excited to get our feet wet and get into this community as a company and see the growth continue on.”
The group took several photos, posing with shovels as they scooped dirt to signify the projects beginning.
