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Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999

Upsize, upscale Whataburger due on Shoreline

Sonic, KFC also expanding; new apparel shop planned at Padre Staples Mall

JEFFREY TOMICH
Staff Writer

   With about $1 of every $5 spent dining out in Texas going to a hamburger or chicken restaurant, it shouldn't be a surprise that several new fast food shops are going up in Corpus Christi.
   The most conspicuous among them is a two-story, 6,000-square-foot flagship Whataburger on Shoreline Boulevard.
   Tim Taft, a senior vice president for the Corpus Christi-based chain, said construction should be complete by the end of February, with an opening date planned for mid-March.
   It will be Whataburger's biggest restaurant to date and seat about 200, compared with its existing 2,500-square-foot Shoreline restaurant that seats 85.
   Taft said the new restaurant will combine tradition with a contemporary flair, both in architecture and menu.
   In design, the building will sport Whataburger's trademark A-frame but with a glass-encased dining area to provide a panorama of the marina, he said.
   Windows upstairs and downstairs will reach the ceiling "with the idea that you're going to feel like you're outside," Taft said.
   The view to the north will improve further once the existing restaurant at 201 Shoreline Blvd. is razed, he said. Once cleared, the lot will likely be used for parking.
   And though the menu at the new restaurant will include standard Whataburger fare like burgers and fries, it will also include specialty dessert items plus cappuccino and gourmet coffees.
   

Sonic revival

   Whataburger isn't the only chain building a new restaurant in Corpus Christi.
   The first Sonic Drive-In built here in two decades opened just before Christmas. And the city's sixth KFC will open its doors later this week.
   Located on South Staples Street near the malls, the new Sonic pipes 1950s music to customers. In keeping with drive-in tradition, the restaurant's wait staff will take to roller skates this summer.
   The new Sonic has 24 automobile stalls for ordering and eating, plus a drive-through and more than a dozen patio tables.
   It is the city's fifth Sonic restaurant, all operated by franchisee Sonics of Corpus Christi.
   The company's president, Gary Rogers, said the new restaurant is part of a larger plan to expand in Corpus Christi.
   "We're going to build about three Sonics here," he said. "This is the first of that group."
   Work planned this year includes retrofitting the city's four older restaurants to match the new Staples location. And one of the other new restaurants is on the drawing board for 1999, though a site hasn't been chosen, he said.
   

New KFC

   Springfield, Mo.-based franchisee Restaurant Systems Group will open its new KFC restaurant Thursday.
   The 4,000-square-foot store is located in the 5600 block of Saratoga Boulevard, just east of Staples.
   The company already owns and operates the other six KFC franchises in Corpus Christi and one in Portland. It bought the stores, previously company-owned, in July 1997.
   Restaurant Systems has dozens of KFC and Taco Bell restaurants in Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Kansas and Missouri.
   

Apparel store

   The Buckle, a Nebraska-based retailer of apparel for teens and young adults, is opening a 4,800-square-foot store at Padre Staples Mall.
   Jim Baxter, the mall's general manager, said the store will be located at the site where Lerner's was before the chain pulled out of the mall last month.
   The Buckle, which operates 222 stores in 29 states, sells casual apparel including brand names such as Dr. Martens, Lucky Brand and Tommy Hilfiger as well as private-label clothes.
   The company recorded 1998 sales of $267.9 million.
   On Retailing is published each Tuesday in the Staff Writer business section, and includes information on new, relocated and expanded businesses. Items for consideration should be submitted to: On Retailing, Corpus Christi Staff Writer, P.O. Box 9136, Corpus Christi, 78469; e-mail Jeffrey Tomich at tomichj@scripps.com; fax items to (512) 886-3732; or call (512) 886-4316.

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