By Jacob Sturm
Mustang Times
A new way to shop for groceries is coming to a location in eastern Canadian County.
JackBe, a curbside drive-thru grocer, broke ground this spring on a new location at the corner of SW 29th and Mustang Road between Mustang and Yukon.
The grocery store will be a part of Brookstone Village, a 24-acre commercial development that will include restaurants and retail.
Jennifer Neef, a co-founder of JackBe, said the biggest difference between JackBe and a typical grocery store is that JackBe is pickup only. That means the customer has to order the groceries and let the employee do the shopping for them, saving the customer the time and relying on convenience.
“It is a place where we serve the customer entirely,” Neef said. “And so, our heart is to shop the way that you would… We’re specially training our employees to really be thoughtful about how they pick produce. It’s our heart that we never put something in someone’s bag that we would not put in our own.”
Currently, JackBe has a location open on May Avenue and 178th street in the Edmond area and will open a second location in May of 2023. The location on Mustang Road is the third site where the company has broken ground, and the company is hoping to be open in September or October depending on the building speed.
So, what brought the company to the location covering the Mustang, Yukon and Southwest Oklahoma City area?
“It seems like in Oklahoma, there’s so many high-growth areas, and it’s been difficult for grocery stores to keep up with that,” Neef said. “I think that in order to validate having a grocery store, you have to have an enormous number of people in that area. For us, we’re very different because it’s a smaller store and we want to be where the people are. We want to be right on the line between business and neighborhoods so families don’t have to get out into the fray.”
“…We just wanted to be refreshing,” Neef said. “I think that’s a big part of our heart, and really we’ve been very intentional about every aspect of our business, from the way our driveway escorts cars in and then the ease that our pickup bays can be accessed.”
AN APPEALING SPOT
With Canadian County’s growth, it’s no wonder the area became an appealing spot.
Customers can download the JackBe app, where the customer will automatically have $10 in their cart that they can apply to their first order.
Neef said the company is continually making changes to help improve the app. Customers can place an order on the app and indicate when they are on their way to the store. From there, JackBe employees will begin the shopping process with the goal of having the items ready when the customer arrives.
People can also place an order on site if they prefer. Once an order is placed, a screen with two options will let the customer say whether they are at the location or on the way.
“A customer can quickly get groceries delivered to their car by simply downloading our JackBe app and shopping through our thoughtfully selected assortment of fresh meats, produce, grocery, and household products,” Neef said. “The best thing is there is never a wait. Simply let us know when you’re on the way, and we’ll start picking your order, and even guarantee no substitutions.
“As soon as your order is ready, simply pull into one of our eleven bays, scan the QR code, and one of our valets will bring your groceries right out. That’s it. It’s really that simple.”
Currently, JackBe is open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the Edmond location. It is to be determined what an hours’ schedule will look like for the new location once it opens.
But the expectation is something similar to the current model.
