Pick Me Up, a gourmet soda company dedicated to “picking up” their customers, is a recent addition to the restaurant strip under NorthPoint Apartments in Rexburg. Many students have taken advantage of its walk-thru window and easy street-corner access. Because of the drinks and convenience, Pick Me Up businesses like the one by NorthPoint have been successful even during the pandemic. While some many never wonder how a business begins, there is always a face behind the success.  

Zac and Amy Martin, owners of Pick Me Up, purchased the company in 2019 and have since expanded from one to 12 locations throughout Idaho and Utah. In an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio, Zac explained the goal for future growth of the Pick Me Up franchise.  

“As far as the growth, we’re really excited to continue to grow. We’re going to be adding a lot more locations. You know, going from one to 12 was just the first step. Our big goal is to be the world’s place to go to to get a pick me up,” he said. 

Originally, Zac and Amy owned a brokerage in Idaho Falls called The Group Real Estate but have always been open-minded about business opportunities. Interestingly, Pick Me Up was never formally listed for sale, but Zac and Amy got the chance to buy after a well-timed inquiry. 

When Amy was pregnant with twins in 2018, she would frequent Pick Me Up as a costumer almost every day. She fell in love with the business model and the mixed drinks as the highlight of her day. In the same interview, Amy described how their business intuition led them to transition from real estate to owning several soda shops. 

“Zac had told me several times that I should ask and see if they would be open to selling and I happened to know the owner just kind of friends of friends and so I reached out to him through Facebook messenger…The previous owner said ‘You know I’ve been approached so many times and I’ve always said no but now’s about the time it feels right to sell’ and so we happened to catch him at just the right time,” she said. 

The expansion of Pick Me Up stemmed from a right-time-right-place scenario which seems to have been a blessing. However, investing is a soda company is not without competition. In Rexburg alone there is BarberPop Shop, Fizz Bizz, Great Scotts and Soda Vine just to name a few. 

“We’re not looking outward toward competition because we know that there’s other people out there, …especially in Idaho and the Utah markets where there are other soda companies, but we’re just focusing on perfecting what we have,” Amy said. 

Zac and Amy consistently work to involve their business in the community. One of the ways they are giving back in October is by donating 5 cents per drink sold to a local breast cancer charity. This is just one of few ways they engage with customers to live up to their philosophy of “lifting people up and spreading cheer.” Amy said they have three standards they work to maintain across store locations. Each employee, from the owners to the cashiers are supposed to live by these standards. 

“The 3 pillars are you pick yourself up, you pick each other up (which just means our teammates, the people around us), and then we pick our customers up. Living by those three really makes it just such a positive environment,” Amy said. 

It is their hope that every customer of Pick Me Up feels better after they experience the genuine customer service and taste the indulgent treats found at Pick Me Up locations. For more information about Pick Me Up, the locations or menu items, visit the Pick Me Up website.