NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTOS BY JONATHAN MEYER – April Brandt smiles in the expanding kitchen of Brew Oil 95, playing a pivotal role in menu additions and bringing new flavors to the location.

For decades, the convenience store on the south side of Tama has been more than just a place to grab gas or a quick snack. For many in the community, it has been a daily gathering place, somewhere to drink coffee, share stories, and catch up on the latest local happenings.

Now, under new ownership, the store is entering a new chapter while maintaining the atmosphere that regular customers have long known.

The location, referred to as “Jiffy South,” was previously part of a chain owned by Dan Moellers. In November, the stores were purchased by Brew Oil LLC. Brew Oil operates a growing network of convenience stores across the Midwest, with most locations concentrated throughout Iowa and a small presence in Kansas.

According to the company’s website, Brew locations in Iowa can be found in communities such as Storm Lake, Spencer, Sioux City, Marshalltown, Newton, Indianola, Knoxville, Oskaloosa, Spirit Lake and Des Moines.

The acquisition brought several local stores under Brew Oil ownership, including Jiffy North and Jiffy South in Tama-Toledo as well as Twin Town Liquor.

Kaley Keep (left) and Tiki Purk (right) stand by their new in store gambling machine that they have coined the “fish game”.

The transition is part of Brew Oil’s continued expansion across the Midwest, with the company focusing on upgrading older convenience stores through improved technology, loyalty programs, and expanded food service.

For staff at the Tama store, the change has been noticeable almost immediately.

“We had an older system before,” said Kaley Keep, assistant manager at the store. “Everything had to be manually entered. We had to type in price lookups for a lot of items.”

Earlier this year, the store installed new touchscreen registers and barcode scanners, allowing items to be scanned rather than manually entered.

“We had to type everything in before,” Keep said. “Now we can just scan items. It makes checkout a lot faster for customers and easier for us.”

Manager Tiki Purk (right) and Assistant Manager Kaley Keep (right) smile with the prospects of new life for “Jiffy South” now known as Brew Oil 95.

The new ownership also introduced Brew Rewards, a loyalty program that allows customers to enter their phone number at checkout to earn points on purchases. The rewards system works at Brew Oil locations across the region.

But while technology upgrades have improved efficiency, the biggest change customers will notice is happening in the kitchen. The store has been steadily expanding its kitchen offerings in recent months with the goal of providing affordable, homestyle meals for customers.

“We want to offer American homestyle cooking that people in the community can’t really get anywhere else right now,” Keep said.

Currently, food can be made to order within five to 10 minutes or is available in the warmer. Menu items include smashburgers made from steak burger patties, sandwiches, tacos and other hot foods. The store is also preparing to add fried chicken to the menu in the near future.

Daily specials are returning, and kitchen staff is experimenting with new menu ideas while also encouraging customers to offer suggestions.

“We’d love to hear from people about what they’d like to see,” Keep said.

The store recently created a Facebook page to help share information about daily specials, kitchen hours and other updates.

“We made the page and it took off right away,” Keep said. “We had over 100 followers within the first couple days. That’s probably the best way for people to keep up with what we’re offering.”

A place that feels like home

The kitchen is led by cook April Brandt, who recently joined the team and has helped introduce fresh menu ideas and homestyle cooking options. April is renowned for her time at Big T, making the famous potato salad.

Both Purk and Keep say the goal is to give community members another option for a quick but satisfying meal in a community where those choices have become limited. But beyond food and technology upgrades, one thing remains unchanged – the atmosphere inside the store.

Tikki Purk, the store’s general manager, has worked at the location for four years, while Keep has been around for five years. Both say the sense of community inside the store is what makes it special.

“It’s a safe space,” Purk said. “You have regulars who come in every morning and sit and drink their coffee, and you have people passing through who just need gas or a quick snack.”

The morning coffee crowd is a familiar sight. Many customers stop in daily to chat about farming, cattle prices, weather, and whatever else is happening around town.

“They’ll sit and talk for hours sometimes,” Keep said. “If we don’t see one of them for a few days, we start wondering where they are.”

That sense of familiarity has turned the store into something more than a business.

“It really feels like family here,” Purk said.

Customers range from longtime regulars who treat the store like a second living room to travelers stopping briefly for gas or a quick meal. The combination creates an environment Purk called “unique.”

Brew Oil has encouraged the Tama location to maintain that welcoming community atmosphere while continuing to improve the store. Plans for the future could include additional seating and interior updates, making the store more comfortable for customers who want to sit down and eat.

Kitchen hours are also expected to expand further in the evenings once additional staff are hired. For now, Purk and Keep say they are focused on continuing to grow the food program and building on the store’s long-standing reputation as a friendly community gathering place.

“Our goal is to make people feel welcome,” Purk said. “We want them to come in, grab a meal, sit down if they want, and feel like they’re part of the place.”

Brew Oil 95 is hiring at both locations in Tama and Toledo, and invites interested community members to consider applying.