KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) – After a six-month hiatus, Kingsport’s Chick-fil-A location on Stone Drive is back up and back in business.

Chick-fil-A closed in Kingsport on July 28 in order to demolish the building and build a bigger, more modern facility at its same location.

The restaurant reopened with a ribbon cutting Thursday morning, six months after it closed.

The new facility is close to 5,000 square feet, compared to the 3,200-square-foot building it replaces. The majority of the space increase is to a new up-to-date kitchen facility.  

It also has increased the size of its drive-thru facility, which owner/operator John Tingle said will mean more customers will be in the Chick-fil-A parking lot, instead of being backed up on Stone Drive.

Also increased is the restaurant’s workforce. The new, larger Chick-fil-A will employ close to 150 employees, including 65 that were employed at the location when it closed in July. The 150 employees are almost twice the number of workers Chick-fil-A employed when it closed for the rebuilding project in July.

Tingle said he is excited to have the new restaurant open.

“It’s been a long adventure,” he said. “We missed our customers. Kingsport is just a great community to be in.”