OAK HILL — A West Virginia business with a knack for condiments is striving to reach more dinner tables.

With a third location opened recently in Oak Hill and a distribution network covering 13 states, the Custard Stand’s hot dog chili now reaches far beyond its Webster Springs roots. Nevertheless, at least some of the company’s success is owed to its loyal and responsive local customer base.

“We promote Webster Springs, Webster County, and West Virginia tirelessly,” says co-owner Angie Cowger. “We’re very proud of where we’re from, what we’ve accomplished and the fact that we’ve been able to make a difference in our community.”

The first Custard Stand, opened in 1990, grew in part out of a community’s need. Angie and her husband, Dee, admit they were looking to make some extra cash on top of their jobs teaching school and driving coal trucks. But they say they also knew their business needed the support of the community to succeed. The couple says they thought the town could use a family-friendly, homey place to hang out. And they knew a custard stand had thrived there in years past.

They knew it because for decades, Angie’s Aunt Lucile ran it.  She, in turn, got her recipe for hot dog chili from Angie’s grandfather, who ran local taverns like The Greasy Front and Carpenter’s Place back in the 1920s. That means the same recipe has been served in the community for close to a hundred years.

When friends and customers began asking for tubs of hot dog chili from the stand to take to picnics, the couple says they decided to produce and market their chili beyond the scope of the Custard Stand. Their original idea was to simply can the chili in glass jars as it was done in their family. But they ended up with something much more official. Currently, they can produce and package 4,000 pounds of hot dog chili a day in their small chili factory.

The owners say they source as much as they can from Appalachian companies in an effort to support the local economy. Both their shipping box manufacturer and meat supplier are out of Huntington; their spice blend is made in Teays Valley; and their plastic containers come from Cumberland, Md. They say they would like to use local meat, but it’s been difficult to find a supplier who can handle the quantity. They are, however, looking into an offer from a supplier in Summersville.

And the business keeps on expanding. In 2009, they opened a second stand in Flatwoods. Then, one day, two entrepreneurs from Fayetteville, Eddie and Stella Blake, walked in. They were immediately taken with the company’s product and image.

“I’ve owned businesses in Fayette County for 20 years,” says Eddie, while sitting at the recently opened Oak Hill location during lunch rush. “When I met the Custard Stand folks, I immediately wanted to do a franchise.”

Angie and Dee had heard it for years.

“You wouldn’t believe how many people stop in to our locations and say, ‘We know a great spot where you should put one in.’ We have a list of 12 people from West Virginia who want to do franchising now,” says Angie.

The Oak Hill location is their first stand in southern West Virginia.

“You can’t build this type of business in just any location,” says Angie. “You depend on the locals, but you also need a tourist attraction that’s going to bring people to your location. We know there is so much that goes on in that area of the state, so we’re excited about the possibilities of so many more people seeing and knowing and hearing about us.” 

Now that the Cowgers have the legal documents and other nuts and bolts in place, they have a template for future franchises.

“Our next plan is to meet with the people who are interested and do some pre-screening conversations. And then if they want to sign on the dotted line, we’re good to go,” says Angie. 

The grand opening of the Custard Stand in Oak Hill is still two weeks out, but they are currently open and serving most of their menu items. People are already discovering the new lunch spot.

“We didn’t announce the opening,” says Eddie. “We just opened the door, and here they are.”

The Custard Stand is located at 4342 Lochgelly Road in Oak Hill. They serve hot dogs, sandwiches and soft-serve ice cream from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays.

For more information, visit their website at www.custardstand.com.

— E-mail: cmoore@register-herald.com