The West Virginia hot dog—consisting of a unique combo of mustard, onion, chili and slaw on a steamed bun—is a hot commodity year-round in the Mountaineer State. Now add the summer holiday selling opportunity to the mix and it becomes a case of franks on steroids.
That’s what Amanda Ratliffe and husband Justin Fox discovered this past Memorial Day weekend when their J&J Country Roads Store, Pence Springs, West Virginia, sold just shy of 1,000 dogs over a two-day stretch from Saturday (435) through Sunday (535).
This prolific volume undoubtedly helped propel the single-store owners’ sales and profits, but it also required a very tactical, all-hands-on-deck operational effort. With the hiring process a tough nut to crack in this region, J&J owners thankfully have reliable family members to lean on and ensure success.
“We have had a hard time finding good employees, so when we have a crunch period like summer holidays, family has to step in,” said Ratliffe, who along with Justin operate the store with Justin’s brother, Jason Fox.
Now, Ratliffe says the task is ramping up for what is anticipated to be an ultra-busy summer at the c-store, which is located in Summers County along the Greenbrier River southeast of state capitol Charleston. The store has the market cornered on most all consumable goods and services, including the availability of Liberty-branded fuel with two multi-pump dispensers. Fuel competition is practically nonexistent, as the nearest fueling stop is about seven miles away.
“We continue to brace for more high-volume periods. There are area weekend events planned for June, plus July 4 and then Labor Day to follow. An abandoned lot next to us is currently being converted into a camper lot that will have a capacity to house 200 mobile campers,” she said. “We will then have a ready-made additional customer base to serve.”
Ratliffe said staffing up “creatively” is essential in a region that’s hard pressed to find sustained workers. “Since we took over the store in 2019 it’s been a chronic grind to locate not only good workers…but workers, period,” she said.
“We have some who were hired but only worked a few days and quit. Some think it’s an easy job—that it’s just a ‘gas station.’ But it is a lot more than that. Justin and I are here six to seven days a week and have two other employees that help run the store. Our daughter, Lakelyn, has been working with us since we took over,” Ratliffe added.
Eyeing More Profit Centers
Over the years, J&J Country Roads Store has sold well over 2 million. It’s a destination draw that’s really on autopilot with little advertising needed. (The store does leverage its Facebook page to tout daily and weekly specials, and also cuts interesting videos to boot.)
“People call us the ‘hot dog’ store,” said Ratliff, who uses Brown Foodservice, Louisville, Kentucky, as its hot dog product supplier and H.T. Hackney Co., Knoxville, Tennessee, as primary wholesale-distributor.
To provide perspective about the volume spike on hot dogs during weekends and summer holidays, Ratliffe said “we sell 110 to 120 units per weekday, and Sundays see sales reach anywhere from 500 to 700.” The price point for all hot dogs is $2.50, with a meal deal running $8.59.
The brand cache of the store, in general, had long caught the attention of the Fox brothers, who formerly worked as Pepsi-Cola retail distributors.
In 2019, the brothers along with Ratliffe took the acquisition plunge. “It’s a huge part of Summers County—anyone that goes to the Pence Springs flea market on Sundays knows to stop here to get breakfast and hot dogs on their way home,” she said. “The best part about working and owning the store is our customers. We have many that are in here four to five times a day.”
The store offers a full deli menu, groceries, hardware that includes toilets, hot water heaters, wall heaters, wood stove accessories, pipe and pipe fittings and septic systems. “I like to say that we have everything from hot dogs to hardware,” said Ratliffe.
The owners are always bent on offering new types of products. The most recent additions were mulch, animal feed and straw—plus garden plants procured from a local greenhouse and locally grown tomatoes, peppers, onions and cabbage.
“We have most of it delivered by Tri-County Produce, a local company. The produce and garden accessories are all sold outside, adjacent to the store,” she said.
As the owners celebrate their five-year anniversary of owning J&J Country Roads Store, they’ve ambitious plans to build and grow—including more hot dog volume. It's an iconic recipe that many can’t simply replicate out of the blue.
Ratliffe and the Fox brothers, however, found a way: “To get the hot dog recipe, you have to buy the store,” she said.
Independent retailers, would you like your store(s) to be featured in an Indie Closeup? Please contact Greg Lindenberg at greg.lindenberg@informa.com.
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