Merc. Feature: Pump 'n Pete's

When days get hot and driving tedious, Moran’s Pump ‘n Pete’s has the perfect foil: a refreshing new iced coffee that awakens with its frosty flavor. The iced cappuccino machine offers three flavor choices, French vanilla, rich chocolate mocha and “radical X2” extreme caffeine.
It’s an effective jolt, said store manager Deanne Saichompoo.
If regular coffee or fountain drinks are more your style, the store has those, too, and offers them half price during happy hour from 2 to 4 p.m. daily.
Got the munchies? Pump ‘n Pete’s has more than the usual convenience store fare.
Pizza is offered in three sizes, mini to large. More than 10 toppings are available, plus specialties like chicken bacon ranch, six meat and cheeseburger. Calzones and stromboli are pizza pockets, Saichompoo said, with Italian or ranch dressing instead of red sauce.
For the morning commute, try a Denver omelet pizza or sausage, bacon, egg and cheese pizza. Not that hungry? Homemade honey biscuits might meet the need. “We bake them here and drizzle honey butter over the top,” Saichompoo said. “They’re really good.”
“A lot of people grab them and go,” she said of the popular item. “You can eat them in the car on the way to work.”
The biscuits also come as a side with the store’s new fried chicken.
“You can get it by the bucket, pack or meal,” she said of the crispy treat.
Sizes range from a single piece with biscuit to three piece meals or buckets of eight to 96 pieces.
“Our chicken is just as good cold as it is hot,” Saichompoo said, making it a perfect addition to a family reunion or summertime picnic. For very large orders, let the store know a day ahead and they’ll be happy to have your order ready when you are.
For grab and go snacking, zappers are a perfect choice. The bagel-dough wrapped Polish sausage and cheese is delicious, Saichompoo said. Or, the store has a dollar menu to choose from.
Pump ‘n Pete’s offers seven types of fuel, including premium unleaded, two mid-level grades, diesel and off-road diesel.
In the evenings, the store is a go-to for basics. Located at the intersection of highways 54 and 59, “We’re surrounded by a lot of little farm communities,” Saichompoo said. “Price-wise, Pete’s has made it a real good deal for people to stop here when they need milk, so they don’t have to drive to Iola” she said. Plus, “We have the only ATM in town.”
Service is honest and friendly, as are the customers.
“We’re just so eager to help, we baby our customers,” she said. The crew will even go so far as to pump your gas if you ask.
It’s probably that level of service that makes the community so protective of Pete’s, Saichompoo said. The community views it as their store. And Pete’s employees feel the same.
“The most rewarding part of this job is working with the public,” Saichompoo said.

7/7/09