This A&W franchisee turned a small-town gas station into fast-food successThis A&W franchisee turned a small-town gas station into fast-food success

If founders, chefs and other creatives are the beating heart of the restaurant industry, then franchisees are the veins delivering their ideas to all corners of the globe. Franchising is critical to the success of the industry, allowing brands to quickly scale their big ideas using other people’s capital. And whether it’s a mom-and-pop restaurant owner with one or two franchised restaurants or a seasoned veteran whose influence in the industry is well-known, franchisees — with all their individual attributes, styles and personalities — make a huge impact on the success of a business.

In this week’s installment of Franchisee Spotlight, we spoke with Deanne “Dee” Wells, who has been an A&W franchisee since 2016 and co-owns six stores in Wisconsin with her husband.

We spoke with Wells about getting her start at a root beer stand when she was a teenager and then stepping into franchising by adding her first A&W on to a gas station and convenience store that she and her husband owned.

Store count: six A&W stores in Central Wisconsin

Growing up around restaurants

I grew up in the small town of Owen-Withee, Wis, and my first job was at the end of town at a place called the Sunset Drive-In that was an A&W years ago, but they rebranded it. But we still made homemade root beer and blended it with the paddle and everything. That was my first job, and I was also a car hop, which I did for three summers. That’s how I got started. From there, I worked at a deli in town, worked as a waitress, basically everything within the food industry my whole high school career. 

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Getting into fast-food

I actually got married right out of high school, and we farmed for a little bit. Then, we decided to open a gas station with a food court in my hometown, and I ran that for 26 years. We had subs and chicken, and then we added on to the building and we had a small department store because there was nothing else in town. I ran that for six years, and then when the Dollar General came into town, I knew I couldn’t compete with that. So, I told my husband, “Boy, wouldn't be nice to have our own fast-food restaurant with a drive-thru?” because my building was set up so that I could do that. So, we started investigating brands that would do well in a small town.

A&W partnership

I saw in a magazine that A&W was expanding and looking for franchisees, so we gave them a call and I asked them if they would look into going into my c-store and they said, “Actually we're working on that. You would be the first ones.” So, we flew down to Kentucky and met everybody and showed them the layouts of my store, and they decided to accept us. From there, we went on to remodel my department store into my first restaurant that was connected to my gas station and put a drive-thru window in and then brought fast-food with a drive-thru to our little town. That’s how we began in 2016, and now I have six restaurants. We just opened the sixth one two weeks ago in Merrill.

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Owning a multi-purpose store

It’s very busy. There’s a lot to take care of, but it works well because when people come in for gas, they look over and see that they have the option to get a sandwich out of the cold case or walk over to the hot food section, and get the fast-food, ice cream, and the root beer. It really adds to the gas station

Other stores

Just my first one is attached to a gas station. Another one was actually formerly a gas station that had a Hardee's in it that went out of business, and then the owner called and asked if I'd like to transform the Hardee's into an A&W and we accepted, and now that’s where my fifth store is.

Future goals

I want to stick with A&W. and I have plans to expand this year. I’m expanding to Wausau, Wis., and that will be my seventh restaurant. I try to keep my stores close enough so I can get to them. Merrill is farthest away at 90 miles away, but they are all in Central Wisconsin.

Why A&W

I love working for the brand because the food is great, the root beer is nostalgic. People come in and we have the mugs, and if kids have never had a mug experience with root beer, they love it. The management of A&W is terrific. They really help you and don’t want you to fail. They’re like family.

Community giving

It’s all about giving back. If we’re not strong in the community, they’re not going to support us, so I love supporting them. We reach out to the school district, day cares, and just spreading the word and asking if there’s anything we can do to help. We like to reach out to everyone just to see what we can help with, whether it’s a gift card to help the kids at school or doing a free root beer float party. We do share nights with nonprofits that are looking to raise money for their groups. We're always making gift baskets with A&W swag, we’re working this year with a scholarship program, where each location will be giving away a scholarship.

Contact Joanna at [email protected]