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The new Scooter’s Coffee at the former Dairy Queen location in Pipestone is expected to open around late November or early December, according to Chris Ray, one of the franchise owners who will serve as manager. The Pipestone native (class of 2006) said the inside of the building will be gutted and rebuilt to Scooter’s specifications prior to opening.
“Scooter’s has it down to a science, so they know precisely where they want all the different machines to be, which makes it more efficient to take orders,” Ray said.
The outside of the building will get a facelift to make it look like a typical Scooter’s Coffee. Ray said the drive-through and walk-up window will remain as will the patio and overhang on the south side of the building.
Ray said the business will be open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily to start. He expects to have around 20 to 25 employees, most of them part-time, to allow for flexibility with schedules. He said the typical shift will be around two or three hours and many of the employees will likely be high school students.
(Top) Chris and Brittany Ray, and (bottom) Erin and John Lindsey, are the owners of the new Scooter’s Coffee at the former Dairy Queen site in Pipestone. They plan to open the business in late November or early December. Contributed photo
According to the menu, available via a QR code on the sign in front of the property, the menu will include hot drinks, iced drinks, blenders, smoothies, teas, Red Bull infusions, and sparkling floats and sodas for drink options. Food options will include breakfast items such as muffins, sandwiches, burritos and cinnamon rolls. Ray said the company is also expanding its lunch menu with items including bacon cheddar sliders.
The Pipestone location will be the first for Ray, who lives in Brandon with his wife, Brittany, and their four children who range in age from 5 to 12. Ray said they fell in love with Scooter’s Coffee when they moved to Brandon from Sioux Falls in 2016. He said he appreciates the high quality coffee, the customer service and the company’s involvement in the community.
He said he and Brittany have been interested in opening a Scooter’s Coffee for a while and the company just opened up the Minnesota market last fall. The Rays and their partners, Erin and John Lindsey, bought the former Dairy Queen property from Corey and Julie Popma at the end of August.
“We wanted to do it somewhere close to where we live in Brandon, and it just made the most sense to do it in Pipestone, since I’m from there and know the community pretty well,” Ray said.
Aside from their Scooter’s venture, Ray operates The Big Deal, a mobile app for coupon deals for businesses in the Sioux Falls area, and Brittany is a senior compliance manager at Goal Solutions, a consumer loan servicing and asset management company in Sioux Falls. Erin is director of client relationship management at Goal Solutions and John owns Complete Technology, a security camera installation company.
The Lindseys live in Sioux Falls with their 14-year-old son. Erin said they heard about the opportunity from the Rays, who she knows through work.
According to www.scooterscoffee.com, Don and Linda Eckles started the company with a drive-through coffeehouse in Bellevue, Neb. in 1998. There are now locations all over the country. Ray encouraged people to stop in once the Pipestone location is open and give Scooter’s Coffee a try.