Buffalo Wild Wings Casa Grande, Arizona, Makes Impact on Community
On Aug. 22, Buffalo Wild Wings® Casa Grande celebrated its third anniversary. “We are proud to say that we have been welcomed into this small, quaint community in Arizona with wide-open arms,” said Gayle Schmidt, who owns BWW® Casa Grande along with Bill Schmidt. “We are located right off the interstate, so we have a lot of travelers stop in for a bite when they are passing from Phoenix to Tucson or vice versa. We have also become a common meeting ground for people from these two areas who want to meet somewhere in the middle – thus, the reason for our billboard on the freeway.”
BWW Casa Grande has gained so many loyal Blazin’ Rewards members that they decided to honor them in a special way on this year’s anniversary with a free fast break lunch from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. with cake. “We are very proud to say that we still have three of our opening managers and 14 members of our opening team,” said Schmidt. “We play as hard as we work!”
BWW Casa Grande is involved with its local Boys & Girls Club, the Greater Casa Grande Chamber of Commerce and the local school districts, both elementary and high school. Along with EWRF events and HTAs, which the town greatly supports, Buffalo Wild Wings® Casa Grande holds a “Kick For Wings Contest” at halftime during the local high school’s home football games.
“Our captain and mascot round up two qualifying kickers to attempt to kick a field goal from either the 10-, 20- or 30-yard line,” said Schmidt. “Depending on which yard line they choose, they could win 50, 100 or 150 wings.”
But that’s not all BWW Casa Grande does within the community. They also host the same event during basketball season where participants shoot a basket from the free-throw line, the 3-point line or mid-court. “It always provokes crowd excitement and a lot of people come to the restaurant after the games,” said Schmidt.
Due to BWW Casa Grande’s involvement with the local community and accommodation for families and big groups to gather, Buffalo Wild Wings has become a staple to Casa Grande. “Because we’re a small town, we advertise in the local town shopper,” said Schmidt. “That seems to work well for us, and we earn lots of new guests, who we build lasting relationships with and who eventually become part of our ‘regular family.’ We hope to win their trust and likeability to keep us here for many more years!”