Czech Stop staff works three shifts, baking 24-hours a day to keep up with customer demand for kolaches.
West, Texas- West is a town in central Texas. I have to clarify this point. It could easily be confused with the western region of the Lone Star State. Czechoslovakians came here in the 19th century to work on the railroad. They brought a culture rich in great food, my favorite, the kolache.
A kolache is a pastry made of sweetened dough and is filled with meat or fruit filling or cream cheese and it’s hard to find any better than those at the Czech Stop on I-35. Customers feel the same way. They sell about 104,000 every seven days. That’s around 620 every hour of every day.
The store employs 105 people that include a staff of bakers working three shifts a day so they have fresh product no matter what time customers come in.
They also have great sandwiches, breads and other baked goods. The best Reuben sandwich I’ve eaten is here. Barbara Schissler, CEO, says the high volume is because only the best quality ingredients are used and of course, the service. The staff working the counter are friendly and helpful. One can be confused by the sheer volume of baked goods on display. There is a lot food here. The challenge is that it is all very good and that makes for hard choices.
When I arrived to do the NACS Magazine story, it was pre-lunch rush, 10 a.m. The parking lot was packed. It appears this store is always busy, so busy that they purchased a parking lot across the street to handle the overflow.
The folks here are always thinking of something new. Many of the ideas come from the production staff baking in the back. They make chocolate covered snicker doodles, chocolate covered pretzels, they make their own jelly. There’s so much. I simply don’t have enough space to write about it here. You can read more in the September issue of NACS Magazine.
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