MOUNT VERNON — A national coffee franchise has announced the opening of nine locations in Central and Southern Illinois.

Scooter’s Coffee, LLC, says in a press release, that it’s opening drive-thru coffee locations in Centralia, Salem, Mount Vernon, Vandalia, Benton, Mount Carmel, West Frankfort, Harrisburg, and Olney, Illinois.

Scooter’s Coffee is based in Omaha, Nebraska, and specializes in artisan espresso drinks, fruit smoothies, and baked-from-scratch pastries and features its signature drink, the Caramelicious®. The company also recently added a line of organic hot and iced teas, single-origin coffee, and Cold Brew & Cream.

The nine-unit expansion across Southern Illinois is the result of deals signed by Rachel Wallace and her business partner, Marcy Wallace (no relation.) Rachel has been in franchising for years; she owns 26 fast food franchises, including Rosatti’s Pizza in Centralia, a pizza/sports pub and a hotel.

Two of the franchises, the Benton and West Frankford locations, were already established by Scooter’s Coffee before Rachel and Marcy bought them.

Several others are being built on parcels of land that Rachel already owned. She says ironically, Scooter’s Coffee had been trying to contact her to buy the land because they thought the sites would be perfect locations for their drive-through kiosks.