Store owner Rob Sparrer joined Mayor Natalie Hall and local dignitaries to cut the ribbon at the new McDonald’s restaurant in Bluffdale. (Tom Haraldsen/Salt Lake Business Journal)
McDonald’s has opened its first restaurant in Bluffdale, and Mayor Natalie Hall said, “We’re so thrilled that McDonald’s has come to our city — it fulfills an American dream.”
During ribboncutting ceremonies July 7, the mayor said everyone has a connection in some way to McDonald’s during their childhood or adulthood. “Whether it be the jingles at McDonald’s or the food, we feel that connection. We love that they’ve come here to be part of our community.”
Store owner Rob Sparrer expressed his excitement at the newest of his family’s McDonald’s restaurants, which is located at 13906 S. Redwood Road, just south of Bangerter Highway.
“It’s a great location; we’ve got a great team,” he said. “It’s always fun to see a new restaurant come to life and take on its own personality. We have a super-great manager and a team working here.” He said the store will initially employ 90 people.
Hall said the new McDonald’s location is the result of hard work and patience.
“It’s been years and years, looking towards developing this area,” she said. “We had to buy surplus property from UDOT. In order to have a prime corner, we needed to do a little juggling to see how we could make it work.
“Economically, every business supports and contributes to our economy,” she added. “But even more than the economy, it really is about services in your community so you don’t have to leave and go elsewhere. My family — they’re big fans of McDonald’s breakfast. And my husband loves the Diet Coke.”
This is the 32nd McDonald’s restaurant owned by the Sparrer family. His father, Charles Sparrer, opened his first franchise on 3500 South in West Valley City in 1975. The family will be holding a 50th anniversary celebration at that location in September. That store was rebuilt a few years ago and the family still has original bricks from the first restaurant “from where it all started.”
Sparrer said the corporate offices handle the real estate side of the business and became convinced that the Bluffdale location was the right place for the new restaurant.
“We always say our part of the store is from the wallpaper in,” he said. “We knew this was an area that is booming and a great place to be. So McDonald’s puts the deal together and then I get the opportunity to buy the franchise and open it and run it.”
The Sparrer family owns most of the McDonald’s on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley, as well as several locations in northern Utah County and out to Tooele. Along with sister Chris, their stores go up into the northeast corner of the valley as well.