Super Rooster owner dishes up secrets to success

WHEN Ray and Elena Klarich started a take away chicken shop in the Southtown Shopping Centre 34 years ago, they had no idea it would become a Toowoomba icon.

Super Rooster started life 34 years ago in the Southtown Shopping Centre.

WHEN Ray and Elena Klarich started a little take away chicken shop in the Southtown Shopping Centre 34 years ago, they had no idea it would become a Toowoomba icon.

But after nearly three-and-a-half decades of serving up the city's favourite roast chicken and chips at Super Rooster, they have come to accept their place in the annals of Garden City history.

Barely a week goes by that Mr Klarich isn't baled up by a happy customer keen to reminisce about the good old days or tell him their kids have come back to town after a few years away and instead of being keen for a home cooked meal, the demand is Super Rooster instead.

He puts the success down to a simple formula involving good customer service, clean stores and an unchanging recipe devised by the husband and wife duo.

"The reason we started it in the first place was my wife and I had a lot of experience in the industry," he said.

"She had great, great skills in dealing with the public and was a very good cashier, and I had a lot of experience because I helped set up Big Rooster in Western Australia."

Roast chicken, chips and burgers are the mainstay products at Super Rooster.

They put their heads together and came up with the recipe for their roast chook, which remains the same to this day.

"My wife's background is Italian and my background is Croatian and between us we came up with a recipe that was well advanced for the time, because 30-odd years ago Mediterranean food wasn't that popular," Mr Klarich said.

"But once people tried our product it seemed to roll on from there.

"There wasn't any magic marketing, just a delicious, good, old-fashioned product, cleanliness and good service.

"We've got a pretty loyal following and people think there's all these tricks and marketing, but we like to think we're the Hanna's of barbecue chicken," he said, referencing one of Toowoomba's other long-standing customer favourites.

He said Southtown Shopping Centre had a number of after-hours businesses running there at the time and it was the perfect fit to give them their start.

The Alderley St store got a serious upgrade in recent years.

But before long, they heard of how many people were driving all the way across town for a feed of the famed roast chook after hearing all about it from enthusiastic east-siders.

In response to demand, they opened a second store on the corner of Taylor and Holberton sts in 1987.

They later moved both stores to main roads, one on the corner of Ruthven and Alderley sts and another on the corner of Bridge and McGregor sts in Wilsonton.

Next in the expansion plan was an outlet to service commuting Highfielders and northside residents, one of the first businesses to open in the relatively new Northpoint Shopping Centre complex.

He said despite repeated offers for the business to franchise, the family was keen to keep the business manageable and keep the product under their control, but didn't rule it out as part of the future when he retires.

His son Kris helps him supervise all three stores, but Mr Klarich said there was no guarantees Kris would want to take over the family business, and if he did, whether he would elect to offer franchising opportunities.
 

Originally published as Super Rooster owner dishes up secrets to success