Sunny Isles came alive with excitement as Church’s Texas Chicken officially opened its doors Saturday.
“Today we are not opening just a restaurant, we are opening new doors to opportunities and jobs for St. Croix,” said a speaker at the grand opening, Lanie Jno-Baptiste of Church’s Texas Chicken in Sunny Isles.
Paul Lockhart, operations manager, said, “We put in a lot of hard work for weeks and weeks. One thing about our company is that if we don’t think of the community when creating something, then we did not think big enough. It’s a great product we are putting into the community — something we have never had before.”
Lockhart added that franchise owner Dr. Peter Kumpitch, a seasoned restaurant entrepreneur who has lived on St. Croix since 1972, believes that anything brought into the community should be of quality. The new location will be operated by Wenvi, Kumpitch’s franchise group.
To promote the opening, the St. Croix location used local influencers to spread the word in the community.
Jim Finkle, senior director of International New Market Strategy at Church’s Texas Chicken, praised the St. Croix team for its efforts. “It was no small feat to turn this into a Texas Chicken, and congratulations to them.”
Sen. Hubert Frederick was also in attendance to extend his congratulations.
Frederick expressed his excitement about the addition of a new dining option on the island. “I just want to express how happy I am that we finally have another restaurant here on St. Croix. On behalf of Milton Potter, president of the 36th Legislature, I want to welcome each and every one who came out to support this business.”
Frederick, who said he has known Kumpitch since his days at First Bank, noted that Kumpitch has invested in several other businesses on the island. “The same way we praise other businesses, we need to praise our own and support our own.”
As part of the grand opening, the first 100 customers received a promotion of one piece of chicken along with a biscuit.
Consumers can expect the restaurant to open daily from 10 a.m. though hours might change in the future.
