Otter Creek Country Store opens in Robins

Travelers on Interstate 380 have another place to stop for food and fuel in Eastern Iowa.

Otter Creek Country Store, which will employ about 20 people, opened Friday off Exit 28 on County Home Road in Robins. The 6,200-square-foot convenience store will be open 24-hours, seven days a week selling BP-branded fuels, according to Don Burd, president of Otter Creek Country Stores Inc.

'We have a fairly large kitchen, which initially will be open from 4:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.,” Burd said. 'It's not a full service kitchen, but we will offer deli sandwiches, salads, fried chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, brats and Northern Lights pizza.”

Burd said Otter Creek Country Store has a beer cave, eventually will offer liquor and Iowa wines, and has booths wired with electric and USB outlets for laptop computers. The store, owned by Burd and his brother, Joe Burd, also offers free Wi-Fi and two Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations.

The opening of Otter Creek Country Store followed months of delays and false starts due to a variety of factors.

'I think it actually worked out better because it give us a chance to really sharpen the loose ends, pull it all together and work out the all the details,” Burd said.

Some of the store's first customers arrived early Friday morning.

'It was still dark when I saw some license plates from Minnesota,” Burd said. 'We've been getting about 50 cars a day for the last month stopping in to see if we were open.”

Burd's parents, Edie and Tom Burd, owners of Burd Construction, moved to the area in 1974. They bought 14 acres of land on the northeast corner of I-380 and County Home Road from the Iowa Department of Transportation after the interstate was completed 34 years ago.

'We always knew that the land would be a good location for something like a convenience store,” Burd said. 'We started working with Robins on annexation in 2004 and we finally got annexed in 2006.

'We wound up bringing in quite a few properties or about 376 acres in that move.”

While Burd and his family do not have any immediate plans for the remainder of the 14-acre parcel, he said it would be a good location for a hotel. He said a second phase for Otter Creek Country Store likely will include a larger building and more fuel islands.

'Surprisingly, nothing else has been developed out here,” Burd said. 'Robins has been very helpful, bringing sewer and water out to us. We're working together to promote the area.”

Robins Mayor Chuck Hinz said Otter Creek Country Store is a welcome addition to the community.

'We anticipate that the area around County Home Road, I-380, North Center Point Road and east on County Home Road will be what we call a community endorsed economic development area,” Hinz said. 'I think with Otter Creek Country Store opening, that will undoubtedly open up some other possibilities.”