Sonic Boom: Sonic saturates small-town markets

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There's a Sonic boom occurring in southwest Missouri. Sonic Drive-In is the largest chain of drive-in restaurants in the United States, and the Ozarks will boast two new locations by this fall.|ret||ret||tab|

A new Sonic is expected to open in Willard this fall, and Forsyth's Sonic will open July 8.|ret||ret||tab|

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Willard|ret||ret||tab|

Terry Johnson, owner of Central Sonic Inc. has eight Sonics across Missouri and Northern Arkansas. He said the Willard Sonic location at 411 Miller Road was hard to come by.|ret||ret||tab|

"The area is pretty saturated. We had to look pretty hard to get Willard. There's just so many Sonics everywhere. A lot of the towns that are big enough already have Sonics there," Johnson said.|ret||ret||tab|

With a population of only 3,200, according to the 2000 census, Willard has drawn few major restaurant chains. Currently, Pizza Hut and Subway are the only two nationwide food establishments in Willard. Located on the corner of Highway 160 and Miller Road, the biggest challenge the Willard store will face is Springfield, Johnson said.|ret||ret||tab|

"We will be competing with Springfield and competing with people working in Springfield, which takes them out of town during the day," Johnson said. "It's all competition, and it all comes down to if you can give some good service."|ret||ret||tab|

Johnson said traffic count and population growth are two reasons he decided to build in Willard. According to MoDOT traffic studies from January and March 2003, an average of 11,330 vehicles pass by the intersection of Miller Road and Highway 160 each day. The traffic count was based on a 24-hour calculation.|ret||ret||tab|

Steve Rieck of West Plains is serving as the project manager for the 1440-square-foot building on 1.6 acres. The restaurant will have 22 drive-in stalls, a drive-through and a separate outdoor patio close to Highway 160. The company plans to hire 28 to 32 people, and the store's manager will be a part-owner along with co-owners Johnson and Raymond Eding.|ret||ret||tab|

City Administrator Carl Carlson said the new addition will bring more national companies to the city.|ret||ret||tab|

"Once Sonic is here, I think others will be coming along. One of the developers of our residential development has done other things commercial, too, and I know in the back of his mind is another fast-food place, maybe in conjunction with a convenience store," Carson said. |ret||ret||tab|

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Forsyth |ret||ret||tab|

The new Forsyth Sonic, owned by Bolivar-based Excel Sonic Group, is expected to open in less than a month. Excel owns 27 Sonic franchises in Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas.|ret||ret||tab|

Excel purchased 300,000 square feet of land for Sonic from Country Mart Grocery in January 2003 for an undisclosed amount and started construction May 1. |ret||ret||tab|

The $350,000 construction cost is financed through Community National Bank of Iola, Kan. Don Erbert, owner of Iola, Kan.-based DE Construction, is the general contractor for the 1,440 square-foot building with 22 drive-in stalls and a drive-through. |ret||ret||tab|

Jeff Chambers, chief operating officer for Excel Sonic Group, said market research compiled by the Sonic Corporation indicated a good opportunity for success in the town of 1,700 people. |ret||ret||tab|

Excel had the opportunity to build in Willard but opted not to do so because of a shortage of manpower at the time, Chambers said. While few market opportunities are available in the area, Chambers said the company recently completed market research for a possible Rogersville Sonic. However, no definite plans have been made for that store.|ret||ret||tab|

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Missouri expansion|ret||ret||tab|

While Sonic's growth is continuing to happen around the Ozarks, the availability of viable markets is diminishing|ret||ret||tab|

"Just about every town that could support a Sonic has one," said Chambers.|ret||ret||tab|

Bill Pierquet, senior vice president of development for Sonic Corp., said development in southwest Missouri came easy for the Oklahoma City, Okla.-based company.|ret||ret||tab|

"Since we started in central-south Oklahoma and grew out from there, southern Missouri is a market that is fairly well penetrated. But with that said, we continue, as markets grow and markets change, to have opportunities to grow in those markets, although it is somewhat limited," Pierquet said.|ret||ret||tab|

Sonic is currently placing a lot of emphasis on developing the St. Louis area, however, Pierquet said he's also in the process of securing another site in the Springfield metro area.|ret||ret||tab|

The Springfield designated market area includes 19 counties in central and southern Missouri and six in northern Arkansas. In this area there are 45 Sonics, including 33 franchisee locations and 12 corporate-owned locations. Sonic Corp. tries to maintain 20 percent of its locations under corporate ownership and the remainder as franchisees.|ret||ret||tab|

The newest Springfield Sonic, located at 2605 W. Republic Road, was completed in July 2000 and is owned by Sonic Corp. The newest Sonic owned by Excel Sonic Group, located at 3250 Fall Parkway in Branson, opened in October 2002.|ret||ret||tab|

As of February 2003 there were 2,597 Sonic locations across 31 states. Pierquet said the company anticipates being a 4,000-restaurant chain in the next five years.|ret||ret||tab|

"We anticipate growing at a rate between 200 to 250 units a year for the foreseeable future," Pierquet said.|ret||ret||tab|

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