TONAWANDA, N.Y. -- The prospect of developing a commissary to ease the process of getting fresh sandwiches and other foods to stores can be daunting. Property and development costs alone can be prohibitive. That's what makes the way NOCO Express has tackled the matter all that more impressive and, perhaps, worth borrowing.
"[Our commissary] used to be in the backroom [of one of our stores]," Michael Newman, executive vice president of the 32-store chain in western New York, told CSP Daily News in an exclusive interview. "We had some limited access in terms of where [image-nocss] we could deliver it. So we just moved it at the beginning of 2010 to a new facility that was an old c-store that was redundant because we had one right across the street. So we converted it to our commissary, and that's been great."
While several of NOCO's stores include a Charlie the Butcher deli franchise, in which fresh sandwiches, wraps and smoothies are made to order, the commissary allows the chain to keep a display of fresh packaged sandwiches and other foods, made daily, for the customer on the run.
"It's fresh food every day, delivering every night," Newman said. "So in the morning, our guests will come in; there'll be fresh yogurt or fresh fruit or fresh sandwiches. We're trying to be able to utilize a way in which our guests can come in, get a quick sandwich, a fresh sandwich and be on their way."
The next phase of the program is developing healthier options in a bundled offer.
"We're addressing this year how we can have better combo products: a grab bag that's under 400 calories so that it'll help our guest come in and realize that they can come in here, have a meal, something not too high in calories or fat and still be able to do it conveniently at our stores," he said.
Tonawanda, N.Y.-based NOCO owns and operates a diverse group of businesses primarily focused on the sale and distribution of energy and petroleum products. It distributes a full line of commercial fuels, industrial lubricants, bio-products, home energy fuel and heating and cooling systems. The company also operates 32 NOCO Express gas stations and convenience stores throughout western New York.
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