Scooter’s Coffee coming to Rock Falls, Sterling, maybe Dixon

ROCK FALLS – The rapidly growing national Scooter’s Coffee chain is coming to Rock Falls and Sterling via franchisee High Porch Coffee, which also is considering a location in Dixon, High Porch’s director of operations said Wednesday.

A drive-thru coffee shop and breakfast food kiosk will be built at the intersection of state Route 40/First Avenue and Dixon Avenue in Rock Falls around mid-November, and in a lot on 35th Avenue and East Lincolnway in Sterling in the spring, Rob Bowers said.

Scooter’s sells coffee drinks, teas, smoothies, hot, iced or blended espressos, and all-day breakfast sandwiches and pastries.

Equally important, says High Porch partner Don Peterson, a 1989 Sterling High graduate now living in Coralville, Iowa, is his company’s commitment to giving back to the communities in which they locate – an even bigger pleasure for him, since this area is where he grew up.

His father, Don senior, owned Peterson, Detweiler, Book, Quigg and Imboden Insurance in Rock Falls, and his grandfather once owned North End Liquor in Sterling, Peterson said.

Peterson attended Newman Central Catholic High School until transferring his junior year, then went to college in Iowa and became a pediatric dentist, he added. He and two friends from Iowa formed High Porch, named after college football coach Hayden Fry’s book “A High Porch Picnic.” (High porch picnic is a Texas expression for an exceptionally good time.)

“I’m excited to be able to be doing business in the area,” Peterson said. “We like to give back, not just from a business aspect but from a community aspect.”

He plans to reach out to the local high schools and food banks, and also explore other areas where High Porch might be of use, he said.

“I’m going to delve into these communities and see what they need, and try to help.”

For now, the Rock Falls Scooter’s is looking for a general manager and around 20 to 25 other full- and part-time employees, High Porch District Manager Brian Melvin said.

Go to scooterscoffee.com to apply.

The site at 405 First Ave., on the northeast corner of the intersection and north of Hardee’s, is the former home of Jesse’s Towing & Service. The building has been vacant for a while, and was demolished this month to make way for the kiosk.

PMP Holdings of Mediapolis, Iowa, bought the property June 21, on behalf of High Porch, from Hueber Feed, formerly DeKalb Feeds, for $300,000, according to Whiteside County property records.

Hueber is right behind the site, to the east, at 105 Dixon Ave.

PMP also bought a vacant commercial lot at 3503 35th Ave. in Sterling, next door to Aldi’s at 3409, on Aug. 1 from the Larry G. and Mary R. McCormick Living Trust for $250,000, county property records show.

Construction of a Scooter’s drive-thru will begin there in the spring, Bowers said, speaking from Dixon, where he was in discussions about possibly obtaining another site at the new Gateway Development on South Galena Avenue.

The High Porch partners are opening a Jersey Mike’s sandwich shop there, Peterson said.

High Porch Coffee owns 16 other Scooter’s in Iowa and Illinois, including in Princeton and Clinton, Iowa.

Rock Falls will be High Porch’s 17th Scooter’s, with a location in Geneseo slated to open immediately after, Melvin said.

There also are plans to open in Rochelle, Freeport, and many other locations in north central Illinois, Peterson said.

High Porch’s goal is to have 45 to 50 Scooter’s franchises, Bowers said.

Don and Linda Eckles opened Scooter’s Java Express in Bellevue, Nebraska in 1998, and began franchising in 2001 after opening five stores. In 2005, it became Scooter’s Coffeehouse, which was shortened to Scooter’s Coffee in 2011.

The 25-year-old company now is based in Omaha, Nebraska, and has more than 675 locations nationwide, Bowers said.