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QuikTrip
This is the story of Rooster Booster—a scrappy energy drink that's been energizing late-night gas station runs for over two decades.
Our story begins long before energy drinks were even a category. Back in 1958, two Oklahoma men had a crazy idea to create one of America's most beloved convenience store chains.
Burt Holmes was driving through Dallas when he spotted thriving 7-Eleven stores that seemed to print money. The concept was simple, but it worked. Small grocery stores that stayed open late and made shopping convenient. Holmes knew this could work in his hometown of Tulsa.
But Holmes had a day job selling insurance. He needed someone who could actually run the stores. So he teamed up with Chester Cadieux, his old junior high school classmate. With $5,000 from Holmes, $5,000 from Cadieux, and another $6,000 from three additional investors, they scraped together $16,000 to launch their venture.
On September 25, 1958, QuikTrip opened its doors. The first two years were brutal, but they eventually started earning a profit.
Chester Cadieux had three simple rules for any business venture: it had to be simple (because he didn't know much), low-cost (because he didn't have money), and avoid tough competition. QuikTrip checked all these boxes.
The company grew steadily through the 1960s and 70s. By 1971, they had 100 stores and began selling gasoline as self-service stations became legal. They even had their own beer brand called "QT Beer" — marketed as "Quittin' Time" — complete with a mascot dog named Lamar who became so famous that people knew the dog better than the company itself.
With these early successes, QuikTrip was ready for its new venture.
The year 2001 marked QuikTrip's entry into the emerging energy drink market. While Red Bull had been on the rise in America since 1997, most convenience chains were content to simply stock the big brands.
Not QuikTrip. They saw an opportunity to create something uniquely theirs.
Enter Rooster Booster and its companion, Donkey Kick — QuikTrip's first private-label energy drinks. While other energy drinks had names like "Monster" or "Rockstar," QuikTrip went with barnyard animals that packed a punch.
By 2004, QuikTrip had something special brewing. They'd added Ram Jam to their energy lineup, and the drinks were performing beyond expectations. But how do you market quirky energy drinks with farm animal names?
Well, they turned their employees into walking, talking mascots.
Starting in April 2004, four employees became the faces of QuikTrip's Energy Tour.
By summer 2005, QuikTrip had completed their energy drink quartet with the addition of Dr. Dogg. Now they had four distinct personalities: Rooster Booster, Donkey Kick, Ram Jam, and Dr. Dogg. Each had its own mascot, costume, and decorated vehicle.
Rooster Booster wasn't content to exist only in traditional energy drink format. In 2004, as QuikTrip launched their Freezoni program, Rooster Booster found new life as a frozen carbonated beverage.
The company also developed Rooster Booster Lite, a zero-calorie version.
Today, as QuikTrip operates over 1,000 stores across multiple states and generates billions in revenue, Rooster Booster remains a testament to the power of authentic brand building.
After more than 20 years, that rooster is still crowing.
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