Quick-Serve Restaurants are facing increased pressure on their drive-thru business. Here's how the new Dura-Glide® DT™ from STANLEY Access Technologies helped one customer meet that challenge.
A conversation with Jim Shoults, Bruster’s Real Ice Cream shop franchise owner
If you’ve never tried Bruster’s Real Ice Cream, you are missing out on some of the best ice cream you’ve ever tasted. Designed to re-create the old-fashioned ‘walk-up’ experience, each location features two serving windows and outdoor seating. Of course in this car-centric culture, even an old-fashioned ice cream parlor has to have a drive-thru, but growing demand in the drive-thru lane is causing some franchise owners to look for something more versatile than the traditional drive-thru window. One such owner is Jim Shoults.
Jim owns the Bruster’s in the town of Lilburn, Georgia and recently decided that his typical drive-thru window just wasn’t going to be enough for his customers. Because of the location of the building as well as the way it is situated on its parcel of land, Jim needed to give employees the option to exit the structure to serve customers in the drive-thru lane. Jim had to find a new kind of solution.
Jim reached out to STANLEY Access Technologies after an online search. And that’s where the Dura-Glide® DT™ comes in. Because of its innovative design, the DT allows his employees to serve customers through a traditional drive-thru window during slow times and then switch to fully opening sliding doors when employees need to take orders and payment as well as delivering tasty treats to customers still in line. Here are some excerpts from our conversation.
Moving the drive-thru line as quickly as possible is my main objective.”
STANLEY Access Technologies: What made you decide to look for an alternative to the traditional drive-thru window?
Jim Shoults: Moving the drive-thru line as quickly as possible is my main objective. Also, when using the previous drive-thru window, there were times when a customer would not pull close enough to the curb for the employee to easily conduct the transaction. [The employee] would need to almost hang out the window to reach them for payment and delivery of the order. Now we are able to simply step outside and right up to the vehicle to conduct the transaction comfortably for both the employee and the customer.
STANLEY Access Technologies: Have you seen an increase in efficiency for Bruster’s?
Jim Shoults: I feel our efficiency has increased in several ways. During a high-sales volume period in the evening, we will often have two employees outside with handheld devices taking orders and processing credit card transactions in the drive-thru line. There are times when a car in front of the line has a large order and a car behind them has a small order. The employee outside can actually take the order and payment of the second car, run inside through the door to pick up the order, and deliver it to the customer so they don’t need to wait on the car in front of them.
I can see cars moving through the drive-thru lane more quickly which I feel certain is attributable to easier access to the customers.”
STANLEY Access Technologies: What are some other things you like about the DT ™ that you maybe did not expect?
Jim Shoults: When an item is dropped (change, credit card, extra napkins, etc.) it can be easily accessed rather than replaced and left lying on the ground outside. And our regular customers appreciate not needing to pull close to the curb in order to reach a window.
STANLEY Access Technologies: What else do you like about DT ™?
Jim Shoults: The door is wide enough so that one employee can be handling a customer at the door while a second employee easily moves past them through the door to pick up another car’s order. Also, when the drive-thru line dies down the outside order taker(s) can easily come inside to help with the walk-up window and then easily head back out when more cars arrive.
STANLEY Access Technologies: I understand in your particular situation, you were looking to re-route traffic to move around the back of the building which would have been impossible without the Dura-Glide® DT™. Is that correct?
Jim Shoults: Yes, that’s accurate. I believe all these [improvements] increase efficiency by eliminating slowdowns in transaction processing. I can see cars moving through the drive-thru lane more quickly which I feel certain is attributable to easier access to the customers. Also, there is a “convenience” component. It provides another exit from the building that’s on the opposite side of the building’s other 2 doors. Heading outside for whatever reason – picking up trash from the lot, changing the street sign reader board or drive-thru menu board, or simply going home after a shift – can at times be more convenient.
STANLEY Access Technologies: Thank you for your time today, Jim.
Jim Shoults: Thank you!
