MATTOON — Mattoon is now home to the first franchise location for Ginger Ale's, an Olney-based cold drink shop with "2.8 septillion" flavor combination options.
The franchise location, owned by Brad and Casey Walk of Sigel, opened to the public on Tuesday at 1817 Charleston Ave. after holding an opening celebration the preceding night with the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce.
Casey Walk served up sugar-free sparkling strawberry water, orange and regular lemonade, blue raspberry and grape Sprites, and marshmallow sweet tea during the celebration, as well as a new Green Wave drink with Mountain Dew, blue raspberry and pineapple in honor of Mattoon High School's sports team name. The shop also offers hot dogs, giant soft pretzels, biscuits, cookies and more.
People are also reading…
Walk said she has been excited to see community support for Ginger Ale's among attendees at the celebration and those on social media who followed the Mattoon Ginger Ale's development this spring. The Sigel woman, who also operates a Gate to Plate food truck, said she is particularly proud to be the first franchise location to open with Ginger Ale's.
"I love that part. I am so excited about that," Walk said.
Ginger Ale's company founders and owners Michael and Julie Hill were in attendance at the celebration. Julie Hill, who is a dietitian, said she and her husband, who retired as Olney's fire chief, were operating a seasonal concession stand in their hometown when they decided they would like to do that kind of work year-round.
Hill said she and her husband decided to focus on cold drinks to keep prices low and drive-thru traffic moving quickly, and picked Ginger Ale's as the name because they and their two daughters all have red hair. She said they opened Ginger Ale's locations in 2015 and 2019 in Olney, and have recently gotten into the franchise business after fielding inquiries from prospective entrepreneurs.
The exteriors of all of their cold drink shop locations are painted with their signature shade of neon green. Hill said while neon green is not a traditional color choice, it helps people notice Ginger Ale's locations and start talking about them.
Mattoon's Ginger Ale's is in the east end of a former dry cleaning and laundry building that owner Jasper Holdings LLC of Mattoon has renovated for use by the cold drink shop.
Walk said she and her husband, who have broken ground on a Ginger Ale's location in Effingham, appreciate that the 1817 Charleston Ave. building already had a drive-thru in place. She added they were drawn to this building by its high-traffic location along U.S. Route 45 and two state routes in the heart of Mattoon.
"We're a hometown place. It's not an interstate place," Walk said of Ginger Ale's. "We found this space and we thought this is exactly where we need to be."
The Mattoon Ginger Ale's will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. More information is available by calling 217-235-6531 or visiting mygingerales.com.