Colonie

The first Sonic Drive-In in the Capital Region is expected to open in June at the former location of King's Buffet in Latham.

Although the new franchise's owners — who have tried to remain anonymous — have hired two food service industry veterans to manage operations, the first order of business appears to be teaching potential servers how to roller skate.

Sonic's servers, also known as car-hops, roller skate to customer cars. And so the restaurant has become a sponsor of the Albany All Stars women's roller derby league — with hopes that its skaters can help teach its servers how to use roller skates.

"Except in the snow, then they are walking (to cars)," said Colleen Pierson, a spokeswoman for the restaurant company.

Pierson was overseeing a news conference Thursday inside the now-empty King's Buffet. She said they are planning to hire 50 people at the Latham location, which is expected to have $2 million in annual sales. In all, eight to 12 locations are planned for the Capital Region.

Pierson declined to name the franchise's owners, except to say that it is a group of investors with experience in the services industry.

"This would be their first Sonic," Pierson said.

The group, which purchased the King's Buffet property at 701 Troy-Schenectady Road for $1.49 million and goes by the corporate name "Fast Eats LLC," has also lined up financing for the restaurant from Saratoga National Bank and Trust in Saratoga Springs.

They also hired Frank Fata and Kurt Doolittle as operations managers. Doolittle has experience as a district manager for McDonald's, according to his LinkedIn page.

The Sonic restaurant will also be a sponsor of the Epilepsy Foundation of Northeastern New York.

Eugene Nachamkin, a fundraiser for the group, was at the event. He, like other people who stood at the back of the restaurant, denied being part of the ownership group.

Colonie Supervisor Paula Mahan said she had no idea who the owners were, although she praised them during the news conference.

"Everyone is going to have a lot of fun with it," Mahan said. "Everyone in the town of Colonie was excited to hear about Sonic."

lrulison@timesunion.com • 518-454-5504 • @larryrulison