STORESPOTLIGHT The Cube
The Cube’s four windows and order what they need, or they can place an order ahead of time via the company’s website or app and just drive up to the front door and have someone bring their order to their car. “Our technology is proprietary and we have perpetual inventory, so someone won’t order something that is out of stock,” Sharp said. “We want to incorporate RFID technology next where we will give customers a tag to put into their car so we will know when they are outside, and we can bring their order right to the car when they pull up. It will also help us track what you buy, so if you want your usual — maybe a mocha and a breakfast parfait — we can see you four cars back and have it ready for you.”
High-quality coffee is one of The Cube’s focal points.
Making it Fresh
In deciding what they wanted to offer at The Cube, the partners started with where they think many convenience stores are lacking. The first item that came to mind was coffee, as traditionally c-store customers are limited to “prepackaged coffee or powdered cappuccino,” according to Sharp. Lawrence did the research, sourced coffee beans from overseas, and had a roast created exclusively for The Cube so it can’t be found anywhere else in the country. “We have a barista just like you would find at your neighborhood coffee shop,” Sharp said. “The next important thing after coffee was food offerings.” When they originally came up with the concept for The Cube, the owners didn’t think they would offer food because they doubted they could keep the quality high while making items quickly to support the drive-thru concept. But after hiring an executive chef who trained in France and owned restaurants in the past, the owners realized they would be able to get the window time cus-
tomers expected, without compromising the food quality. “Now, our food is what our concept is centered around,” Sharp said. “Our barista and our food will become our anchor. People come for coffee and food and while they are there, they can get tobacco, beer and groceries.” The kitchen is small, but utilizes two turbo convection ovens to cook more quickly, and everything is made on the premises. While the menu is limited because they couldn’t maintain the timeframe for service if the menu became too large, all menu items — breakfast, lunch and dinner — can be purchased at any time of day so someone can pull up and pick up both breakfast and lunch before work, Sharp noted. “Everything is made fresh, even the pizza. We cut the meats and cook the sausage at the store,” he explained. “We don’t have fryers, microwaves or grease, and we can take the pizza dough, Boar’s Head cheese and Italian sausages, and have it ready for you in four minutes.” Expansion plans
The owners plan to open 25 more locations in oklahoma.
66 Convenience Store News | FEBRUARY 2015 | WWW.CSNEWS.COM
The first store in Norman will serve as the company’s prototype, and the owners have a plan in place to open 25 more stores in Oklahoma. They may even look into franchising at some point. One of the advantages of not needing such a large space is that the company has more real estate options open to them, according to Lawrence. “There are a lot of old-fashioned gas stations going under, and with c-stores getting bigger and bigger today, they find the lots are too small. But we can take [those lots] and use them for our concept,” he said. Csn