The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
McDonaldland celebrities were among those in attendance December 19 to celebrate the grand opening of the newly relocated McDonald’s in Rutgers Plaza on Easton Avenue.
Grimace, Birdie and, of course, the Hamburglar were on hand to commemorate the official opening of the nearly 4,500-square-foot restaurant, which moved across Easton Avenue from its longtime location in the Village Plaza.
They were joined by a host of family, friends and Somerset County and township officials to mark the occasion of the opening of the 22nd location owned by the Gillis family. Representing the Township was Councilmen Ram Anbarasan and Alex Kharazi, while County Commission Director Shanel Robinson – also a Franklin resident – also stopped by.
A contingent of Franklin Township Police, led by Public Safety Director Quovella Maeweather, was also there, as was Franklin Chamber of Commerce president Nick DiMeglio.
The new McDonald’s replaces a Burger King that was on the Rutgers Plaza site for many years.
Margaret “Marty” Gillis – the matriarch of the operation – said her company owned the Village Plaza location for about seven years, and had unsuccessfully tried to expand it during that time.
“So we started looking at different locations and when the Burger King closed, we came over here.” she said.
Gillis said she wanted to stay in Franklin because “it’s a beautiful community.”
“I’m a Rutgers graduate and I’m also on the Rutgers Board of Trustees, and I know that this is a great community and have been familiar with it since my college days,” she said.
“I think it’s a township that’s up and coming and progressive and wants to embrace all different cultures and diversity,” she said.
Gillis said that one of the things she likes best about the new location is its size, which allows for events.
“We’ve been here for seven years, but we haven’t been able to invite people in the way we would like to invite people in, and now that we have new facility, we’ll be able to do even more things that are in-store,” she said. “We do McManias with different organizations, we have participated in Franklin Day. So we look really look forward to doing all kinds of fun stuff because we believe in fun.”
“It’s a whole different feeling to it,” she said. “Our customers come in and they feel like, I’m going into an upscale restaurant. However, it’s prices that everyone can afford.”
Gillis said the location employs 66 people and is open 24 hours a day. In total, Gillis said, the company employs more than 1,100 people in its 22 locations.
DiMeglio, the Chamber president, said he was “excited” that the company decided to stay in Franklin.
“I’ve actually been in Franklin since 1979, and this McDonald’s has been a landmark here since I was a kid,” he said.
“I love this store, very nice,” he said. “And I love the (electric car) charging stations outside. Very nice touch.”
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