Resurrected under new leadership, the off-campus Zaxby’s located on Hillsborough Street reopened Thursday after shuttering in March.
“We took over the license agreement about the second week of April because the previous licensee went out of business about the middle of March,” said Ben Little, the new owner of the franchise. “It looked like a good business opportunity at the time.”
Little purchased the license agreement for $1 subject to an agreement to remodel and upgrade the location, which he estimates cost him around $700,000 in total.
“I think the student body will support us enough where it will still end up being a good investment in the long run,” Little said. “We run our ship very differently than the previous owners and we try to really take care of every guest. If [students] are not a good chunk of our business we’re in trouble, I’d say about 35 percent of our staff is NC State students.”
NC State students expressed support for the new location.
“This reopening is definitely some good news,” said Andrew Stewart, a fifth-year studying history and geology. “Oh man, oh man, oh man, I love me some chicken; my one roommate said this place wouldn’t reopen anytime soon with all the construction on Hillsborough Street.”
The reopening encountered some bureaucratic issues which caused delays. Although the opening was scheduled for Tuesday and advertised as such on social media, potential customers arriving that day and Wednesday found the store closed due to a building inspector’s day off.
Because of this, the opening had to be delayed until Thursday.
“It’s your typical bureaucracy red tape, no one cares because it’s not affecting them at all when they trip you up over something stupid or petty or because the city won’t hire enough inspectors, and I can’t set an official opening date because I don’t know when the inspector’s gonna show up,” Little said on Wednesday. “Wake County’s severely understaffed. We can try to build the building as safe as humanly possible for our guests and our team, and that’s all we can really do.”
Some NC State students were frustrated by the wait time, but appreciated the opening once it arrived.
“We have been earnestly waiting for this, counting down for the opening,” said Carson Chrismon, a second-year studying accounting. “We’ve been adding days, emailing the manager. It’s nice to have another quality restaurant that’s not just more fast food.”
Little expressed high hopes for how all his guests would feel at Zaxby’s.
“Hopefully, it’ll be the best Zaxby’s they’ve ever eaten at,” Little said. “It’ll be the standard Zaxby’s menu, but hopefully it’ll taste fresher and be better looking than any other Zaxby’s they’ve ever been to.”
