Florence Sonic Drive-In crew moves closer to ‘Mission Accomplished’

The Florence Sonic Drive-In crew from the South Irby Street location is one step closer to qualifying for the national finals of the 14th annual Dr. Pepper Sonic Games, a competition that recognizes the best Sonic Drive-Ins in the country.

The Irby Street Sonic is one of 300 remaining drive-ins striving to become one of the final 12 teams to participate in the finals in Palmetto, Fla., on Sept. 15-16.

Kent Anderson, the store’s general manager, said the competition has been tough in what has been — and might be — a long process.

“You qualify to be in the games by your service and quality of your food,” Anderson said. “We did extremely well on all our mystery shops and we made it into the top 600 stores in the nation out of 3,400 drive-ins.

“You have to take a quiz (related to different aspects of food preparation) and you have to make a certain amount of points. We did well and made it from the top 600 stores in the nation to the top 300, and now we’ll find out in a few weeks if we made it into the top 48,” he said. “If you make it into the top 48, then you compete to be in the top 12.”

This year’s incentive-driven competition attracted more than 2,700 drive-ins across the country to the competition, setting an all-time participation record.

“The crew should be proud of their hard work and dedication,” said Nelson Taylor, vice president of operations services for Sonic Industries. “Dr. Pepper Sonic Games is a unique and fun experience that encourages employees to deliver outstanding customer service. It also provides opportunities to learn about goal setting, responsibility and teamwork.”

The nine-month Olympic-style competition evaluates individual crew members from coast to coast in the following categories: Carhop (food delivery), Fountain (drink preparation), Switchboard (service delivery), Dresser, Grill and Swamp (food preparation). Crew members compete on an individual and team basis for the chance to be named national finalists. Sonic’s top executives will honor the Dr. Pepper Sonic Games winners with gold, silver and bronze medals at its National Convention in Orlando, Fla., this fall.