Monday, January 7th, 2008
Sonic restaurant to open in Celina, more retailers are expected
By William Kincaid
A new Sonic restaurant should be up and ready to serve its burgers, coneys, shakes and more in Celina by mid-June, according to Celina Mayor Sharon LaRue.
The drive-in, fastfood restaurant plans to build on the Harbor Square outlot east of the Murphy's Gas Station. Plans also are moving forward for more retailers in the square along Havemann Road, developers said this morning.
Sonic started as a hamburger and root beer stand in 1953 in Shawnee, Okla., and now is the nation's largest chain of drive-in restaurants, according to the company Web site. There are 3,200 of the restaurants in the U.S. and Mexico.
"It is considered a drive-through or drive-in - there is no eating inside," LaRue said, before pointing out that servers on roller skates will take orders at the customer's car during the summer.
"Personal carhop service is one of the many reasons customers enjoy visiting Sonic," a release from Sonic states.
The Celina City Planning Commission approved plans for the drive-in restaurant last month, LaRue said this morning.
The outlot east of Sonic is planned to be a small retail center, according to Bo Gunlock, asset manager at R.G. Properties of Dayton, the developer handling the Harbor Square shopping center.
Gunlock this morning said his office is working on leasing agreements for retailers to be located in that lot, but he could not divulge any names just yet. R.G.'s Web site shows three proposed retailers in the lot, listed at 1.42 acres.
Gunlock also said three outlots remain open at this time in Harbor Square. One is located south of the Bob Evans restaurant, which the company is marketing to hotels, but currently has no prospects, Gunlock said. The other two outlots are located in front of the new Menards store and are listed on the Web site at 1.3 and 1.9 acres.
The Menards store is supposed to be open by the end of July, city planning commission member Jeremy Hinton said this morning.
