The pecking order

Nearly 100 customers hungry for free chicken camped out at the new Chick-fil-A fast food restaurant on Union Avenue last night.

First 100, a tradition that started more than six years ago, officially started at 6 a.m. today, 24 hours before the store's grand opening. The store gives out $26,000 in combo coupons to the restaurant's first 100 customers as part of the store-opening policy.

If more than 100 people show up, a raffle takes place to distribute the coupons, said Anthony House, a Chick-fil-A event operator. Each of the lucky hundred will receive 52 coupons for free Chick-fil-A combos.

Customers began camping out at the store as early as 5 a.m. yesterday, bringing blankets, tents and board games. House said the biggest turnout he had seen at a First 100 event was 450 people.

Though getting to the event early certainly helps, Matt Jolley, a seasoned veteran of the First 100, said winning the free chicken isn't difficult.

"This is the 14th campout I've done. I first heard about it in my hometown of St. Petersburg, Fla., and I've been tracking them down ever since," Jolley said. "Out of the 14 events I've been to, I've won the coupons every single time. I guess if you add it up I've gotten like $400 dollars worth of free chicken."

The promise of free chicken for a year is enough to get people to follow the First 100 event from city to city, but Brad Laws, a 10-time First 100 participant, said the free chicken is just an added bonus to an event he now considers a ritual.

"When I went to The University of Texas, we would find out about a First 100, skip class on Wednesdays, stay for a day and come home with 52 free combo cards, so it turns out to be a pretty good deal," Laws said. "The free chicken is awesome, but besides the hundreds of dollars worth of free food, you get to make new friends and meet the owner of the store. It's just a lot of good clean fun."

Laws and Jolley eat Chick-fil-A at least once a day, they said.

In addition to the massive amounts of free food, the new restaurant will also bring nearly 65 new jobs to the Memphis area, which will help the local economy, said Memphian Wes Whitney.

"The only other Chick-fil-A is pretty far away, so this is a great location for another store," Whitney said. "Besides Mid-town, the socio-economic class of this part of town is kind of low, so opening another Chick-fil-A over here does a lot for the local economy and offers a lot of people jobs."