Chick-fil-A opening in Bohemia Thursday with free food for customers

A new Chick-fil-A in Bohemia is scheduled to open this week amid cow-themed fanfare and offers of free food for participating customers.

The new location for the Atlanta-based fast-food chicken chain, at 5163 Sunrise Hwy. in the Sayville Plaza shopping center, is set to open Thursday. It will be the 13th Chick-fil-A on Long Island, according to its website. The restaurant’s owner-operator said the new spot will employ roughly 125 Long Islanders, according to a company announcement.

Blair Darcy, owner-operator of the Bohemia location, will host a "Moove-In Party" to celebrate the opening. Customers who attend wearing black-and-white cow-spotted accessories or outfits can receive one free entree or kids meal, according to the announcement.

“As a local business owner, I’m excited to create a space filled with warmth and hospitality, and to be part of the everyday moments that bring this community together,” said Darcy, who has been with the company since 2011.

Chick-fil-A has continued to post year-over-year sales growth and is one of the leading chains in the chicken category, according to Technomic, a Chicago-based restaurant industry analysis firm.

“Chick-Fil-A continues to be one of the most consistently high performing large chains in the industry,” Rich Shank, senior principal and vice president of innovation at Technomic, said in an email Monday.

“We project that they ended the year up 5.5% in total sales and expect a similar rate of growth this year,” Shank said, adding that Chick-fil-A is the third-larges restaurant chain in the country.

Shank said the company’s brand “consistently ranks among the most popular and well-performing brands in the industry.”

Still, like all restaurants, it faces headwinds from macroeconomic uncertainty, he said, along with occasional pushback from local small businesses and consumers concerned about chain growth.

Additionally, the chain and its more than 3,000 restaurants across the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and Singapore have faced rising competition this year from Mexican cuisine and salad and bowl concepts, which have been “outperforming chicken over the past few months,” Shank said.