On December 3, Road Ranger held the grand opening for their new location in New Boston, Texas. “The response from the community was great. We had more than 400 people RSVP’d for the ribbon cutting via Facebook and even had people lining up before we opened,” said Ryan Arnold, vice president of marketing for Road Ranger. The Chamber of Commerce and New Boston city council also took part in the celebration.
The store is the latest addition to Road Ranger’s footprint and is the first site it has built in three years, but the company isn’t slowing down. It has plans to open new locations in 2020 in Brinkley, Arkansas, and Marion, Illinois, as well as two additional locations that are still to be determined but likely will be in Texas.
The New Boston site was determined due to its geographic location. “It was our first step in connecting our two super regions of Illinois and Texas,” said Arnold. “We can now take you from Texas to Wisconsin.”
The site features 14,000 square feet, eight diesel lanes, six showers, 82 truck parking spaces and 88 car parking spaces.
Road Ranger is incorporating new designs into its stores, and the New Boston location is the newest format the regional chain has built. “It features new merchandising and standards that we are going to hold ourselves to,” Arnold said, adding that Road Ranger is working to create an experience for customers, especially for the professional drivers. “We want them to know Road Ranger is dedicated to giving them the products they want, when they need them.”
The New Boston locations has several food options, including Ben’s Pretzels, a new franchise with pretzels made fresh daily, Dan’s Big Slice Pizza and Toas Tacos, which makes tortillas fresh daily. It is also the first Road Ranger site with a Wendy’s, which Arnold said is a heavy hitter in the quick-service restaurant market. The location also features a Road Ranger Kitchen.
To increase convenience, customers can call ahead and order food. “Soon you will be able to order it on the app with a loyalty program,” Arnold said. “We trying to get the truck driver on the road faster. We are very conscious of how important their time is.”
He added that even four-wheel passenger drivers can be in a hurry. “It doesn’t matter who you are, sometimes you don’t have time. You want a good product and you want it quick,” Arnold said.
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