Queues and camping chairs as Wingstop opens at St George's in Harrow
Customers were waiting outside the new chicken restaurant at St George's Shopping Centre by 8.15am on opening day, with the first 100 in line getting free food.
A queue formed early on Wednesday 28 October as the US chicken wing chain Wingstop opened its first restaurant in Harrow, at St George's Shopping Centre in the town centre.
Footage shared with UB1UB2, filmed at about 8.15am, shows a group of customers already lined up outside the restaurant before the shutters of neighbouring shops had opened. Some had brought folding camping chairs to sit in while they waited.
The early start had a clear reason. As part of the launch, the first 100 customers were offered free food, reported to be eight free chicken or boneless wings each.
A long-awaited opening
Plans for the restaurant became public in early September, when a premises licence application was submitted for a unit at St George's. Wingstop signage went up at the centre a few weeks later, and the shopping centre and Harrow town centre's own listings advertised the brand as coming soon.
The restaurant is on the ground floor of the centre. St George's describes it as serving the chain's signature wings, chicken tenders and sides, with a range of flavours and dips.
Wingstop was founded in the United States in 1994 and has been expanding steadily across the UK, with a number of restaurants already open in London.
A full shopping centre
The opening follows a run of new lettings at St George's. In September, the centre was reported to have reached full occupancy, with Wingstop among the brands confirmed to be moving in.
That is a notable milestone for a high street location at a time when many town centres across London and beyond have struggled with empty units.
St George's is a covered shopping centre on St Ann's Road, close to but separate from the St Ann's centre. It opened on St George's Day in 1996 as St George's Shopping and Leisure Centre, on a site once home to a furniture store and, more than a century ago, the Harrow Empire and Picturedrome cinema.
The centre sits a short walk from Harrow-on-the-Hill station, which is served by the Metropolitan line and Chiltern Railways, and from Harrow bus station.
Opening day
Free-food giveaways for the first customers have become a familiar feature of new restaurant openings, and they regularly draw queues well before opening time. Harrow was no exception, with a steward in high-visibility clothing visible near the line as people waited.
The free food offer applied to opening day only. Opening hours for the restaurant are listed on the St George's Shopping Centre website.