Roadtrac Plants Roots in Industry

Houston-based Roadtrac is looking ahead to the future. With 19 sites located in Texas and five currently under construction, all within just four years, the chain is poised for acceleration and geared to make a name for itself in 2024 and beyond.

To facilitate this goal, Roadtrac has implemented grab-and-go options along with its Booma Boom Tex Mex foodservice brand. Additionally, Roadtrac is looking to integrate more technology into its stores, such as an app and electric vehicle (EV) charging.

For its focus on creating foodservice opportunity and active work bringing new technology into its space, along with its growth-driven mindset, CStore Decisions has dubbed Roadtrac a 2024 Chain to Watch.

Establishing Roadtrac

“Our brand really started in 2020, during COVID,” noted Zain Sunesara, managing partner for Roadtrac.

Sunesara’s father, Nick, teamed up with Sunesara’s uncle, Frank, to create the Roadtrac brand during this time. However, the pair had originally begun working together at a c-store in 1998 after immigrating from India, starting as cashiers working 12-hour shifts and working their way up.

A few years later, they had the chance to buy their own stores.

They ran their own existing stores separately before they noticed the strength of the c-store industry during the pandemic, and together, they launched Roadtrac.

“While other asset classes struggled, the c-store industry was the backbone of America during the pandemic,” Sunesara continued.

When he joined the business after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a finance degree, Sunesara brought a younger mindset to the team. He noted their different generations allowed the trio to view the chain from a larger perspective.

“I always express my gratitude and support for my dad and uncle for their invaluable guidance and encouragement in teaching me the business. Their wisdom has influenced my understanding and passion for the industry,” said Sunesara.

Currently, Nick handles store operations; Frank oversees real estate and acquisitions, while Sunesara covers construction and finance.

Booma Boom

“One of our short-term goals is to excel in our food business,” said Sunesara. “We know that the food business is really critical to survive in today’s competitive market, especially in the Houston and Texas area with so many stores coming up.”

As a result, the Booma Boom deli brand was born.

Roadtrac wanted to capitalize on the large Hispanic population in its market area by offering Hispanic foods to its customer base. Options for customers include items such as tacos, quesadillas, gorditas and more.

Booma Boom offers made-to-order cuisine. Customers can begin their order by choosing either a corn or flour tortilla and a bowl or a taco. And then customers choose their meat.

“Every day we try switching out our meats and food offerings because we understand that a lot of our stores are more neighborhood-based stores. At these neighborhood stores we oftentimes see the same customers every day,” said Sunesara. “And these same customers, they don’t want to eat the same repetitive food every day. So we try switching it up with chicken, beef steak, pork — sometimes we also change our chicken a little bit too.”

For instance, chicken options might be grilled or spicy Cajun. Customers continue to customize their meals with toppings and sauces.

In addition to Booma Boom, Roadtrac’s grab-and-go options include cold sandwiches and ready-made tacos, among other items.

Should customers want options other than these, Roadtrac co-brands some locations with Jack in the Box, Church’s Chicken and a few other companies, as well.

For coffee offerings, the chain added iced and frozen coffee to its beverage lineup.

“And we’ve really seen our coffee sales increase by around 20-30% year over year by implementing that,” Sunesara said.

Long-Term Goals

Roadtrac prioritizes organic growth to expand the chain — opening new-to-industry sites around 4,500-5,000 square feet versus acquisitions, although the chain doesn’t discount an acquisition with the right deal.

That said, Roadtrac is actively seeking expansion opportunities within and outside of the Houston market.

“We started growing slowly into the San Antonio and Austin markets, just one store each there. And that’s something that we’ve looked forward to for our long-term goals — expanding to more truck stops along with expanding to different markets for Dallas, Austin and San Antonio,” said Sunesara.

Attached to these locations are up to 2,500-square-foot spaces the chain leases to mom-and-pop shops, such as liquor stores, smoke shops or doughnut shops, with the goal of finding businesses that will increase Roadtrac’s foot traffic.

Along with an escalating footprint, Roadtrac has new tech offerings on the horizon.

For instance, in the next two to three years, Roadtrac hopes to implement EV charging stations at its stores.

Presently, the chain sells its own branded fuel with 12-16 fueling stations per store.

Roadtrac also has plans for a loyalty program and a mobile app, targeting launch in one to two years.

“And in that app, something that we’re looking at is adding a place for the menu so customers can see what food we’re serving for what day, because our food specials are always constantly changing. … Customers can also scan their barcode for their loyalty program,” said Sunesara.

Roadtrac recognizes that customers can’t always go to the stores, so it’s also looking into delivery options.

With its new developments, Roadtrac’s mission is to make a customer’s experience as quick and convenient as possible.