Millersburg chows down on Champs

The Millersburg Short Stop Convenience Store made Champs Chicken available to locals Wednesday.

Due to problems with infrastructure store owners Jason and Shelly Bedsworth had been working with Champs, which originated in Holts Summit, for a year to make the chicken available to Millersburg, Jason Bedsworth said.

"Between here and Columbia there's not a lot of food opportunity for the community," Bedsworth said. "We wanted to offer more."

Millersburg has two restaurants Ranch House BBQ and Mo River Pub and Pool available for locals, but now that Short Stop has added Champs into the mix, more eating opportunities are expected to come, Bedsworth said.

"I think Champs will grow our business quite a bit, increase foot traffic and provide service needed out here for our community," Bedsworth said.

Once Bedsworth and his wife become consistent with the new Champs operation they plan on offering a made-to-order breakfast and lunch option for Short Stop customers. This will be in addition to the Hunts Brothers pizza and burgers the shop already offers, Bedsworth said.

To prepare for Champs Bedsworth had to build a commercial kitchen, redo the kitchen's electrical wiring, purchase new equipment and hire five new employees to keep Champs in running order. They plan to hire another two servers as business grows, Bedsworth said. Additional equipment like a gas stove and flat top griddle was purchased in preparation for the made-to-order meals.

Seating in the Short Stop's restaurant area currently seats 24 people, but Bedsworth hopes to increase that by an additional 50 percent.

Champs will be open until 8 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays and 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, but that's subject to change.

"We can always adjust as needed," Bedsworth said. "The community will let us know with their eating habits."