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Eclectic Offerings, Amazing Design Spur Sales at Slovacek’s Truckstop
Posted in: Truckstop Travels
Friday, June 22, 2018
Editor's note: Darren Schulte, NATSO vice president of membership, frequently visits NATSO members to review their locations and offers impactful merchandising and operations improvements. Contact Schulte at dschulte@natso.com or (915) 526-5820 to learn more about the costs and details of this service.
During the Good to Great Session at NATSO Connect, Mike Lawshe, president of Paragon Solutions and a fellow panelist, told us about one of his favorite locations, Slovacek’s, a market, café and fuel stop in West Texas.
The unique location combines its Czechoslovakian heritage with a meat market, frozen yogurt shop, bakery, fresh Texas barbeque and a gift shop. It also offers a dog park and your traditional c-store offerings.
Paragon Solutions worked with the location on its re-design and the result is amazing. Check out the video of Lawshe walking through the store, interviewing the owner and sharing some of his insights into the redesign.
As Lawshe told us during the Good to Great Session, if customers are laughing or walking around enjoying themselves, they’re going to buy, and it is easy to see why it is hard for someone to get out of Slovacek’s without buying something.
Check out the beautiful market and bakery.
Take a look at the awesome entrance to the beer cave, which is adorned with caps from beer bottles.
And customers traveling with pets will definitely appreciate the dog park.
See even more photos (and learn some Czech sayings) on Slovacek’s website.
/// Did you know most weeks can find Darren Schulte, NATSO's Vice President of Membership, visiting a NATSO member truckstop location, spending three to four days, using his merchandising and operations expertise to help them grow their business? Learn about NATSO’s Profitable Retail Review program here.
Photos Credit: Mike Lawshe/Paragon Solutions
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About the Author
Darren Schulte
Darren Schulte serves as Vice President of Membership at NATSO. In this role, he directs recruitment, retention and customer service for truckstop and travel plaza members. He is also responsible for developing NATSO products and programs, particularly those relating to education, research and training for truckstop and travel plaza operators.
Schulte also leads NATSO's Profitable Retail Review program. A Profitable Retail Review is a custom assessment of your truckstop, including recommendations for every aspect of your facility, from actionable ideas to improve revenue to tactical ways to improve your net operating costs. Learn about NATSO's Profitable Retail Review program here.
Schulte joined NATSO with nearly three decades of experience in truckstop and travel plaza operations and merchandising. Schulte has worked for:
- Love's Travel Stops and Country Stores,
- HESS Corporation,
- Petro Stopping Centers, and
- TSC Global/Barjan LLC.