Thursday, March 20, 1997

The Drivateria rolls on

By BOB BRUCE

Senior Staff Writer

The Drivateria has added a new "menu" item and it's working out well: truck rentals.

The longtime landmark at 2626 N. 1st recently diversified, becoming an outlet for Penske Truck Leasing.

"It's great - it's better than anticipated. We're so surprised," said Lorrie Coker, manager of the 39-year-old restaurant famous for its "Square Burger."

Coker said the opportunity to represent Penske arose last year. Her husband, Travis Coker - who does not work at the restaurant - suggested it might be a good idea. Owner Lynon Owens gave the OK to check it out and, last fall the Drivateria became a Penske agent.

The diversification is good, Lorrie said, because "our customer base is older." She estimated that 75 percent of the restaurant's clientele is made up of senior citizens - many who remember when the late Mack Eplen opened the drive-in restaurant in 1958.

"That's easy for me to remember - that's the year I was born," the 38-year-old manager said.

She said the Drivateria was opened for Eplen by Owens, who has been its sole owner since 1992.

Truck leasing isn't the only example of diversification at the Drivateria. Plate lunches are now served to meet changing eating habits.

"Eating trends have changed. People aren't eating hamburgers three or four times a week like 15 years ago," Lorrie said.

That's why, she said, it's "real important to listen to your customers' needs."

And Lorrie said the Drivateria tries to do that, especially with its older, longtime customers.

"They're so appreciative and so easy to please. We probably know 90 percent of them by name. They're like a family to me," she said.

The plate lunches lead the menu in sales even though the restaurant remains well known for its "square burgers" - square-shaped hamburgers and buns. Baked goods make up 20 percent of sales - cookies, brownies, cakes, pies. All the baking is done in-house.

While the fudge brownies are popular the pink cookies are even more so, by about four to one, Lorrie estimated.

Seventy percent of the restautant's sales are inside while 30 percent comes from drive-through customers.

Her biggest concern is labor - personnel - says Lorrie, who averages a 55-hour work week.

"Keeping good people and keeping them happy" is difficult, she said.

The Drivateria has nine employees and an annual payroll of about $80,000.

Much of Lorrie's time is spent in the kitchen, cooking and supervising.

"I know I should be out here greeting customers but I like to be in the kitchen," she said. "But you can still get the mood of the dining room from back there."

Lorrie likes to work. She says it comes from her Norwegian work ethic, being raised in a small town in North Dakota. She has lived in Abilene since 1979, coming here as an Air Force wife. Three years later, she was hired as the manager of the Drivateria.

She praises her boss - Lynon Owens - and her customers.

"I'm the luckiest person in town. He (Owens) stops by and says, 'Kid, how's it going?' Between him and the customers, that's why I'm still here. They're both so good to me."

The Drivateria is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Hours for Penske Truck Leasing are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.