Quick Bites: COVID Carries On

The interior of the store includes a seating area with space for 40 guests that includes four tables as well as seating along a bar.

and ‘80s tunes, with other genres mixed throughout.

“It’s just very upbeat, and it makes you feel good when you’re in there,” Lawson said. “That ties along with the feel of the place, which is unique. It’s higher-end.”

Roaster’s Market boasts entirely touch-free restrooms, including touch-free toilets, faucets, soap dispensers and towel dispensers. The restrooms feature airport-style doorways and subway tile walls.

The entire Roaster’s Market lot measures eight-tenths of an acre, with the forecourt featuring four gas pumps. Roaster’s plan for a future second location includes space for eight gas pumps.

COFFEE AND ROTISSERIE

The Roaster’s Market concept began to take shape with two ingredients: craft coffee and restaurant-quality food. After researching typical c-store food on the East Coast and following the offerings of well-known, established stores, Lawson decided the Roaster’s brand would be known for its made-to-order food.

Roaster’s uses technology to allow customers to build their own meals.

“I wanted everything fresh, and I wanted the highestquality ingredients,” Lawson said. The foundation piece in its menu is rotisserie.

While traveling to the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Lawson found a long line at the back of the building leading to a kiosk that had a rotisserie barbecue offering. The company, which had multiple Pennsylvania locations, was ‘rotissering’ its food offerings, from chicken pieces to corn on the cob, carrots and potatoes. One item, a jumbo chicken wing, specifically inspired the rotisserie-style Roaster’s menu.

“Chicken wings are just the biggest rage right now,” said Lawson. “It doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all. And this would be a nice, healthy take on it. And so we said rotisserie is going to be our cornerstone piece on how we’re going to prepare most of our proteins.” When building the Roaster’s menu, coffee was another item that took the Roaster’s team traveling; they found their beans in Austin, Texas. Roaster’s coffee is made to order and high-quality with a barista experience.

“And (with) those two components, between the coffee bar and the kitchen with the rotisserie, we came up with the name Roaster’s Market — Roaster’s tying both to the bean and also tying to the method of cooking,” Lawson said.

Along with the rotisserie, other food options include corn, french fries, sweet potato fries, chicken salad, fried okra, fried mushrooms and quinoa. One of Roaster’s biggest sellers is its sandwiches, particularly breakfast sandwiches. Combos are also options, such as a made-toorder sandwich with a fountain drink and Roaster’s chips.

“We have our own special kind of seasoning and rub, which has been a really fun part of the process, that we put on for chicken or turkey or corn,” said Lawson.

“One thing that pairs really well with pretty much anything, any entree that we offer at the store, is our Roaster’s chips. They are freshly made potato chips with

The Roaster’s Market concept began to take shape with two ingredients: craft coffee and restaurant-quality food.

Roaster’s rub on them,” said Caroline Lawson, marketing coordinator for Roaster’s Market.

PANDEMIC OPENING

Opening in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic brought challenges as well as opportunities to explore new technology.

The initial rush of customers following the opening of the convenience store slowed as increased COVID-19 concerns and lockdowns arrived, and like many c-stores, Roaster’s felt the impact. But as the new year passed and 2020 became 2021, sales began to rebound in a big way.

“As soon as the new 2021 year started, buying patterns and sales started a steep incline. People got out. They were ready to change and get back to normal behavior, and sales reflected it almost immediately beginning in January,” Mike Lawson said.

The challenge of opening during the pandemic called for certain aspects of the c-store to be taken into consideration more carefully than before. For example, technology has been an asset in serving customers amid social distancing concerns.

A drive-through that was already in place when the company acquired the site was used to help facilitate the flow of customers. Roaster’s added a menu board for the drive-through, so customers can place their orders before they arrive at the window.

“The menu board is perhaps maybe five to six car lengths back from the actual checkout window,” Mike Lawson said, “which provides ample time to start the orders and have them ready once the customer pulls up to the window to get their items.” This is especially helpful because many of the craft coffee drinks take extra time to make.

As many of the made-to-order items can only be offered in-store, food items are not available through the drive-through, but customers can order crafted coffee drinks, and other cold and hot drinks from the coffee bar via the drive-through, along with pre-packaged items or typical sundries.

In addition to the drive-through, Roaster’s Market also uses an online ordering platform called ChowNow that rolled out in November 2020.

“We’re averaging about 30 online orders a day, and we continue to see month over month that it’s performing better and better,” noted Caroline Lawson. “We’ve got just shy of 1,000 online customers to this point, and it’s been live for a little over half a year. So it’s done really well, and we’re expectant for it to continue to perform well.”

Also through the ChowNow platform, Roaster’s can track customer buying habits and reward repeat customers, as well as encourage them to return for future visits.

Roaster’s Market uses technology to allow customers to build their own meals.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Lawsons plan to expand Roaster’s Market to a second location within the next 12 months. They’re currently evaluating potential properties for the expansion. With the opening of their next location, Roaster’s plans to introduce a full loyalty program.

“Real estate is at a peak, and it makes it difficult on finding a good purchase opportunity. But once we do add another store, that makes it more cost-effective to apply and invest in a loyalty program,” said Mike Lawson.

In the meantime, Roaster’s continues to find new ways to best serve its Ada, Okla.-based customers. Roaster’s is centrally located in the town, which has a population of roughly 25,000 people, and offers the city’s school staff and students 10% off their food and drink offerings. The discount also applies to first responders.

Currently, Roaster’s is also working to partner with local college East Central University’s (ECU) athletic department, setting up scholarships for ECU’s football and basketball programs. It’s also identifying ways to best serve students during Christmas break.

As Roaster’s Market grows, it plans to continue to find ways to support its local community as well as introduce new customers to its store.

The store’s high-end atmosphere, upscale offering and small-town hospitality make Roaster’s Market special.

“It’s really all about friendliness,” Mike Lawson said when asked what he thinks makes Roaster’s stand out. “It’s the uniqueness and definitely the food in terms of its quality.”