Columbus residents can expect two new dining options to open on Highway 45 North, one offering old-fashioned hamburgers and the other providing a sports-themed grill and bar.
Jess Ousley, director of operations for Buffalo Wild Wings franchises in Oxford and Starkville, confirmed Monday that the restaurant is considering a location in Jackson Square.
If plans go as expected, the restaurant — which states on its corporate website that “all you need to know ‘About Us’ is these three things: Wings. Beer. Sports.” — will locate in the space formerly occupied by Goose Hollow Furniture.
Ousley said his team still has to work out a lease agreement, but talks with an architect and contractor are underway. He said he is “90 percent positive” the restaurant will be coming to Columbus, although he would not speculate on when the restaurant would open.
“We pegged Columbus because you have a lot of things going on in that market,” Ousley said, noting Columbus Air Force Base and Mississippi University of Women are located in the town, as well as the high amount of traffic on Highway 45. “It makes sense.”
Also on Monday, officials with Jack’s, a Birmingham, Ala.-based fast food chain, confirmed that they will open a location in the building that formerly housed Bojangles on Highway 45 North.
Doors are expected to open in late November, according to Pam Measel, director of marketing for Jack’s Family Restaurants.
Bojangles closed in late July. Jack’s began renovating the location in early September. The Columbus location will be the fourth in Mississippi, joining locations in Iuka, Red Bay and Corinth. There are 122 locations in the country all-together, according to Measel.
The fast food restaurant offers biscuits, fried chicken, hamburgers and sandwiches, shakes and other items.
Jack’s expects to employee between 50 and 60 people once the Columbus location is up and running, Measel said.
Ousley said based on employment numbers at the Buffalo Wild Wings his company operates in Oxford on East Walnut Street and Starkville on Spring Street, the Columbus location would employee a little more than 100 people.
The Starkville location opened in August 2011.
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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