TravelCenters of America Explores New Food Concepts

WESTLAKE, Ohio — As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the United States in the spring of 2020, TravelCenters of America Inc. (TA) — like other food retailers — was forced to close its full-service restaurants.

Now, roughly a year and a half later, the company has opened all but 50 of those restaurants. TA operates Country Pride and Iron Skillet restaurants at its sites.

As TA is once again serving on-site diners, changes are on the horizon for its food offering, according to CEO Jonathan Pertchik.

"During this quarter, it became evident that our restaurants are not only an important amenity to our professional drivers, they are central to what makes TA unique, and, finally, they can also be a profit center," he said during the company's second quarter 2020 earnings call on Aug. 3.

According to Pertchik, TA rationalized the restaurants it reopened through disciplined leadership and strategic changes to how it measures performance. The travel center operator also reopened with fewer, more desirable menu items and tighter labor controls.

More than rationalizing the restaurant offer, TA is also developing two new food concepts.

"We are deep into the work of developing other concepts designed around a studied understanding of our customers' needs, and look forward to further announcements before year-end," the chief executive said. "Full-service restaurant top line, having been so adversely affected by the pandemic, combined with our improved approach to operating, along with these new concepts, this remains one of many highly opportune areas to capture future value."

He added that its possible that instead of opening all its full-service restaurants, TA may convert some to quick-service restaurants.

"We still have some work to do there, but more fundamentally, these are a central part of who we are and what makes us unique, and we're embracing that," he said. "Our competitors are going in the other direction, I understand, and we are going to double down in this area. I think it's going to be an even bigger differentiator in the future than it's ever been in the past with what we're working on."

In addition to its full-service restaurants, TA has five IHOP conversions underway, which each cost approximately $1.4 million per site. They are expected to open in the third and fourth quarters of this year.

In October 2019, TA entered into a franchise development agreement with IHOP Restaurants. The pact calls for the two companies to open up to 94 IHOP locations over a five-year space inside TA and Petro branded locations across the United States, as Convenience Store News previously reported.

Westlake-based TA has more than 270 locations in 44 states and Canada, principally under the TA, Petro Stopping Centers and TA Express brands. The company is committed to sustainability, with its specialized business unit, eTA, focused on sustainable energy options for professional drivers and motorists, while leveraging alternative energy to support its own operations. TA also operates more than 600 full-service and quick-service restaurants and nine proprietary brands, including Iron Skillet and Country Pride.