A sketch shows the front view of the proposed 7 Brew drive-in cafe at Hills Plaza in College Township. Image by Toth & Associates
The College Township Planning Commission received an overview of the plans for first location of a growing chain of drive-in cafes in Centre County.
7 Brew Drive-Thru Coffee plans to open a branch in a portion of the parking lot at Hills Plaza on South Atherton Street. The 50-square-meter store and 21-square-meter cooler room will replace 48 existing parking spaces between the Kish and First National banks in the parking area near Ollie’s Bargain Outlet.
Founded in Rogers, Arkansas, 7 Brew doesn’t serve food, only beverages like coffee, tea, hot chocolate, Italian sodas, smoothies, shakes and energy drinks. Travis Odom, a Pennsylvania franchisee who presented the draft plan, said the company also doesn’t accept online orders or delivery services from third-party providers like Uber Eats or DoorDash.
Plans for the College Township location call for a two-lane drive-thru. There will be no speaker box, but employees will come to customers with iPads and take their orders. Customers will then drive up and employees will bring them their drinks. A canopy will extend from the building to protect employees from the elements.
It takes about four minutes from ordering to delivery, Odom said.
“We’re all about speed,” Odom said. “We want to get you through as quickly as possible.”
The drive-thru lanes can accommodate up to 18 vehicles at a time. In response to a question from the planning commission about congestion during peak hours, such as Penn State football weekends, Odom said peak congestion during the 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. rush hour is 14 vehicles, even at 7 Brew’s busiest location in the college town of Fayetteville, Arkansas.
If an overflow were to occur, it would flow back into the private driveway leading to the drive-through entrance.
“If that were the case, we would have a traffic plan for that to make sure we have people directing traffic and telling you where to go to stay out of harm’s way,” Odom said, adding that there will be 10 staff on duty at all times.
Franchise stores typically mark the beginning of the drive-thru entrance with cones, but at the recommendation of the Planning Commission, the College Township location may install a curb to prevent vehicles from accidentally entering the line.
7 Brew does not offer walk-in service except for first responders because their vehicles may not fit in the drive-thru, Odom said. First responders also receive a 50% discount.
Although no planned opening date has been set yet, both the building and the cooler will be prefabricated and transported to the construction site by truck, “which will accelerate our construction schedule,” according to a letter attached to the agenda for the planning commission meeting.
7 Brew must submit a site plan for approval before the project moves forward. The draft plan unveiled Tuesday is designed to gather feedback before formal plans are submitted.
After the opening, opening hours are Sunday to Thursday from 5:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
7 Brew currently has 265 locations in 29 states and is expected to grow to 350 in 31 states by the end of the year, according to Odom. The company is aiming for 1,000 locations by the end of 2025.
The first 7 Brew in Pennsylvania opened last year near Readingand another is set to open soon in Red Lion.
