Driving down Henderson Street, it may seem like the Arby’s renovation is far from being finished. But Store Manager Shari Mahnesmith says she thinks it will reopen in December, hopefully before Christmas.
The store closed in August to begin reconstruction.
She says it looked like construction stalled for a while because workers had to completely overhaul the plumbing and electricity, requiring going under the parking lot.
The store and its iconic giant hat sign originally went up in the ’60s.
One of the biggest improvements being made is simplifying the drive thru. It’s safe to say the current design frustrated some customers.
“We won’t have the drive thru that sends you around in circles,” Mahnesmith. “We’ll order back kind of where you did before and just pull forward to the window.”
Mahnesmith says she hasn’t talked to all of the employees who worked at the restaurant before construction began.
She says some workers took different jobs, but she expects some will return.
“Probably half of them are coming back I’d guess and we’ll probably do some hiring,” Mahnesmith says. “I’m anticipating that we’ll probably have a few more than what we had because we are planning on being bigger, better and busier.”
The new design is expected to be more modern, but Mahnesmith says it will be able to serve the same amount of customers.
The store will resemble the new design of other Arby’s restaurants.
