BETHALTO - Scooter's Coffee Drive-Thru just opened its newest location in Illinois, this time right in the heart of Bethalto.

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The store held its grand opening as well as a ribbon cutting to celebrate the special occasion Friday afternoon.

The store, located at 102 W Bethalto Drive, sits at one of the busiest intersections in the town and will be open daily from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

"This will be a great addition,” Bethalto Mayor Gary Bost said. “This has been about a year process, so it's good that it's finally open.”

"I see the drive-thru is filled almost every day. I'm proud of those guys that are great owners and look forward to a long relationship with them,” Bost added.

The store’s owners, Peter Gariepy and his wife Karishma, couldn’t be more excited for the store’s grand opening.

"It kind of felt like the stars aligned and everyone was so positive,” Gariepy said. “We couldn't be happier, and we hope it's been a good addition to the city, which was already in great shape."

He talked about how it has been almost a year and a half since first signing a letter of intent and buying the plot of land that formerly housed an Amoco gas station. Construction on the new Scooter’s building began in the Spring.

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When asked about why he chose Bethalto, Gariepy said: "So, we looked at a number of things: traffic counts, the number of people that live in an area; and this was identified as a very promising, high-growth area."

Tom Lane, president of the Bethalto Chamber of Commerce and a State Farm agent, said: "Congratulations to the owners and personnel associated with Scooter's. They are all very good people and have worked very hard. They have been extremely well received in Bethalto. It is an exciting time for our town. With the formation of the chamber of commerce and the hard work of our mayor and village trustees, we are seeing business interest in Bethalto reborn. Great businesses like Scooter's is just one example."

Gariepy had many people to thank including the town of Bethalto, the mayor’s office, the chamber of commerce, the construction team, store managers and staff, and Geno’s 140.

Gariepy wanted to mention that Scooter’s, although being a coffee drive-thru, is more than that. He mentioned that the store sells breakfast food all day long such as breakfast sandwiches and burritos as well as fresh pastries. They also serve non-coffee drinks like smoothies and Red Bull-based drinks.

Scooter’s will be primarily drive-thru, as the only 630 square foot building simply doesn’t have a dining room. This is done for efficiency reasons.

Gariepy told a story back when the plan was originally announced in May that the first time he visited a Scooter’s, there was an 11-car wait in the drive-thru. He said he still got his order in only a couple of minutes.

“The biggest focus of Scooter’s is obviously not only on quality but really on speed,” Gariepy said.

The Bethalto location joins the ever-expanding company that has tons of stores located throughout the greater St. Louis area. Other Illinois locations include Jerseyville, Glen Carbon, Highland, O’Fallon, Mascoutah, Breese, and Taylorville.

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