Customers refer to Junction Station in Albany, Kentucky, as a convenience store on steroids. “People are amazed at the store and how we run it. We’re a full-service restaurant. We have two dining rooms,” said General Manager Taylor Brown, adding, “Really, we’re a truck stop, but we don’t have showers.”

There are two Junction Stations. The flagship store is the Albany location and a store in Byrdstown, Tennessee is a bit smaller. Linda Crouch, her brother, Ernie Elder, and their mother, Kay Elder, purchased the Albany location in 2013 and the Byrdstown store in 2023. Linda’s daughter, Jolinda Pryor, serves as the head of operations, running the day-to-day business.

“Albany is the heart of the operation,” Brown said. “We have about 65 employees and run 24/7, 365. The Byrdstown store has 30 employees and is also open 24/7, 365.”

Crouch said, “There are three things we tell our people. First, we want a clean store and good food. The second thing is we want clean restrooms. The third thing is good customer service. We train our employees on good service.”

The restrooms bear special mention. “At one time we got so serious, we had a professional company come in and clean them. Now we have staff that keep it clean and check them every hour. It’s sometimes difficult,” Crouch said. “People have told us they drive 200 miles to stop for our restroom. It’s really important. Restrooms rank number one in customer priority.”

Building With Food First

Crouch’s mother was in the c-store business. She owned the Byrdstown location and sold it in 2007. Crouch bought it back in 2023.

“Our family always said that we would never own a restaurant. My mother struggled to find the right food,” Crouch said. So, the family made the decision to hire someone who had been in the restaurant business to help things get started off right.

“[The advisor] asked if I tried this or that menu item. I’d say no. She said you have to try everything. She was tough, and sometimes had us in tears. She didn’t hold anything back, which we needed,” Crouch said. “It woke us up—we had to get serious about what we served.”

The store doesn’t rest on its laurels. “We still want to do the same thing: constantly improve the customer experience. We keep getting more digital. We’re using apps where we used to use menu sheets. We know if we don’t change, we can’t continue to grow. We want to continue to make sure that we offer the best value for the money,” said Crouch.

Successful Foodservice Offers

Crouch’s brother, Ernie, insisted that the store have a good hamburger. “He was on us. He wanted a hamburger that tasted good on a bun,” Crouch said.

The store focused on having good meat with the right fat content. There’s minimal seasoning on the burger. It’s presented open-faced on the plate. “Hamburgers were the thing that got us started. If you have good food, people will come back,” Crouch said.

The meatloaf at Junction Station is popular. “We put our meatloaf special out and in 30 to 45 minutes the first 10-pound pan is gone. We have to put another one out,” said Brown. Junction Station made a commitment to using fresh ingredients. Staff grind the meat in the store for its burgers and meatloaf.

“About three or four years ago we decided to add a second kitchen. We have fruit and we make our own cookies, cakes, yogurt and cobblers here. We have a fresh market. The fresh market business has gotten big in the last two years,” Crouch explained.

Delivery is a key part of what makes foodservice work for Junction Station. “We do up to 20 deliveries in one shift. On Super Bowl weekend we make a lot of deliveries. We do a lot of pizza on those days,” Brown said. “In the summer things are very busy.”

“We have daily specials. People will call and ask what the special is. We sell a lot of our specials. This is a good service for customers who can’t come in,” Brown said. Local businesses use it as well: “We have some businesses that we deliver to each day,” Brown said.