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The new McDonald's store on Three Springs Drive opened its doors to the public Thursday at 10:30 a.m. as a line of customers waited in the cold to be the first crowd to enter.

Several people stated they had waited in line from 7 a.m. until they were allowed in while the drive-through was packed early as well.

Don Herbst, the very first customer, stated he also waited in line for the opening of the Steubenville store.

After being inside, the first meal ordered by the first customer was the McDonald's classic, the No. 1 Big Mac Meal.

"This place looks just fantastic," said Herbst as he sat down to eat.

Two Weir High students said they skipped school to be at the opening and several other students had done the same thing.

"We've been here since seven because we just wanted to be some of the first ones in," said Weir High senior Michael Salko.

The lobby continued to fill up with customers throughout the day as workers did their best to serve everyone in a timely manner.
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Also on site was Bryan Kollar of Installation and Service Technology who said he would be inside keeping an eye on the hardware and making sure there were no major problems.

"It's the first time we've never had a problem," said Kollar.

"I'm hoping it continues to stay that way."

Owner Danielle Campbell's husband, Ed Stice, stated the store planned to have close to 90 employees per day on staff until sales stabilize and everything is running smoothly.

"Right now we're going to be in a transitional phase and we need enough people to keep up with everything," said Stice.

He added that McDonald's plans to keep its doors open 24 hours a day along with their drive-through service.

Manager Janine Jerrel said this morning, while they could not release any numbers concerning the amount of opening day sales and customers served, she said they were very pleased with the opening day.

"We exceeded our expectations and really appreciated everyone that came out to support us and show how much they missed having a McDonald's," she said.

(Dickson can be contacted at adickson@weirtondailytimes.com)