From Weddings To Palm Trees,Drive Thrus Peddle More Than Burgers And Fries (NAPSA)—Motorists ean do just about anything from the convenience of their cars these days. Need some money? Visit an ATM. Getting married? Stop by the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. Planting a garden? Drive over to Evergreen Nursery in San Diego. Just thumb through the Yellow Pages and you'll find drivethru services from A (ATMs) to Z (zoos, as in Virginia Safari Park in Natural Bridge, Va.). “Drive-thru service began as a convenience for motoring consumers, but it’s become a necessity today that most people take for granted,” said Ken Williams, president of Jack in the Box restaurants, the nation’s oldest major drive-thru hamburgerchain. “Businesses recognize that drive-thru service can give them a distinct competitive advantage, not to mention a boost in sales,” he said. “A drive-thru window can significantly improve speed of service, which enables businesses to increase sales by serving more customers, while also satisfying the customer’s desire to get in and out quickly.” Restaurants began catering to motorists in 1921, when thefirst drive-in opened in Dallas. Called Pig Stand, its waiters and waitresses leaped onto running boards of Model-Ts to deliver “curb service” to motorists as they sat in their parked automobiles. Asif drive-thru convenience is not enough, many businesses, Jack in the Box ineluded, also offer 24hour drive-thru service. Are motorists taking advantage of these roadside conveniences? According to Williams, Jack in the Box posted sales of nearly $2 billion last year, making it one of the nation’s largest quick-serve chains. Approximately two-thirds of those sales were transacted via the drive thru. Jack in the Box pioneered the conceptof drive-thru dining with a two-way speaker system and a clown named Jack. Although drive-thru service is common at quick-serve restaurants like Jack in the Box, there are a number of not-so-common drive-thru services offered these days. Considerthe following: * Dog kennel: Benchmark Pet Services, Reynoldsburg, Ohio * Flu shot: Loma Linda University Community Medical Center, Loma Linda, Calif. * Gambling: Lone Star Park, GrandPrairie, Tex. * Liquor: Daiquiri Depot, Lafayette, La. * Mortuary: GW Thompson Chapel of Remembrance, Spartanburg, S.C. * Wedding: Little White Wedding Chapel, Las Vegas, Nev. * X-ray: Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, Pharr, Tex. (Sorry, big rigs only) * Zoo: Virginia Safari Park, Natural Bridge, Va. Automobile styles may come and go, and what’s cool to drive today may be pass tomorrow; but as long as cars exist and people are in a hurry, drive-thrus will remain part of America’s roadside culture.
