Drink franchise to expand to Terre Haute

David Kronke, The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
·2 min read

Apr. 9—Cheesecake-stuffed pretzels and Blue Dew — raspberry-flavored Mountain Dew — are coming to Terre Haute.

Mike Woods, an Allstate Insurance agent, will open a Ginger Ale's franchise in the city this autumn. Ginger Ale's originated in Olney, Illinois; Terre Haute's location will be its 10th.

Ginger Ale's offers a wide array of drinks, including sodas, teas, fresh-ground specialty coffees and espressos, smoothies, frappes and more. Any number of their 75 Flavor Shot options can be added to any beverage, leading the company to boast of offering "2.8 septillion handcrafted drink options."

"They just announced another eight drinks for their spring lineup, so it's growing even bigger," Woods said. "I'm still going through all of them. You can mix all of the flavors together — you want a cherry-vanilla-marshmallow-butterscotch, it's probably a weird combination, but it can be done."

The first shop opened in 2015 in Olney, Woods' hometown, and later opened a franchise in Robinson, Illinois, where he currently lives.

"Its first location was so popular, it was backing up traffic on Main Street," Woods said. "They had to open up a second location on the other side of town, making for two locations in a town of 9,000."

Woods had been contemplating opening another business in Terre Haute; a Ginger Ale's franchise soon became "a no-brainer" to his mind.

"I actually had no clue that they were franchising until one popped up in Robinson," he said. "I reached out and said I'd like to open one in Terre Haute, and they said, 'That's actually a spot we're looking for.'"

Last Friday's tornado in Robinson came within less than a half-mile from Woods' home.

"Several of my neighbors lost everything," he reported. "It is a sad time in the area but the community is banding together to help everyone that was affected." {/span}

Woods has particular favorites when he visits his local Ginger Ale's.

"They have a cheesecake-stuffed pretzel — that thing is to die for, it's phenomenal," he said. "I blow my diet for that. I feel bad when I eat it so I get two diet drinks to compensate." Ginger Ale's will also offer an assortment of other comestibles.

His favorite drinks are unsweetened tea with a sugar-free marshmallow flavoring and a diet Mountain Dew with sugar-free raspberry, called a Blue Dew. His wife Deanna prefers a half-cut tea with both an actual peach and peach boba in it. His children, Haley and Calli Mae, like the Strawberry boba.

Deanna, a family consumer science teacher at Robinson High School, will do the training for their shop, which will be located not far from the Haute City Center and is scheduled to open in the fall.

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.