A brand new Chipotle had its grand opening in Hartville on Sept. 17, 2024, making it one of the most exciting news of the year. However, being so popular brings potential large crowds and traffic issues.
With only 24 parking spots, many customers complained of having to park in nearby lots. Noah Carter, a customer, shared he had gotten there at 5:15 a.m. to wait in line for the opening. He stated that he was the only one there until 9 a.m. when his friend and one other person arrived, but when Chipotle opened at 10:45 a.m. a big line started to form.
Carter even took the effort of self-designing a t-shirt that read, “First One Served, Chipotle, Hartville Ohio,” the night before to celebrate the event. Carter mentioned he had planned all of this since he heard the announcement of Chipotle opening, mostly because it’s his favorite fast-food restaurant and he was excited to finally have a place to get good food nearby.
Carter also shared that he did personally think the food was better being the first customer, he explained, “It was really really fresh since it was right when they opened and just tasted better than when I’ve gone to other Chipotle’s.”
Carter thinks it was worth it to arrive at 5 a.m. just to be able to tell people he was their first ever customer and to get the extra fresh food, but he wouldn’t work there due to it being food service.
The small town of Hartville is used to small businesses so introducing a big chain restaurant has definitely caused a lot of commotion. Out of a survey of about 20 students and staff; most would only go to Chipotle about once a month to every 6 months but most predict to go at least once a week or more because of the new opening.
Sofia Lehak, a former Lake student working at Chipotle during the grand opening, shared she doesn’t believe the crowd will die down over time and thinks the store will be just as busy all the time. All of the staff were feeling excited and had a very positive attitude about opening day.
Having so much anticipation around Chipotle has caused debate for which big chain restaurant will come to Hartville next.
