LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The seven convenience stores that Thorntons Inc. has renovated in the Louisville, Ky., market all have seen an increase of more than 50% in the amount of food products sold, the chain's president, Tony Harris, told Louisville Business First.
Four other Louisville Thorntons c-stores currently are undergoing renovations.
On average, the stores sold 220 food items a day before the renovations. That is up to 850 to 1,000 at the renovated stores, Harris said. System-wide, about 30% of customers purchase food when stopping at a Thorntons store.
"Breakfast has been by far the most successful," he told the newspaper, citing offerings such as a breakfast sandwich, donuts and breakfast burritos.
During the next five years, Thorntons will spending about $700,000 on each of its 178 locations in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida and Illinois.
The new, modern renovations take the focus away from the gasoline pumps, Harris said, and put it on the store itself. The overhaul includes adding a kitchen in the middle of the stores where workers prepare fresh sandwiches for breakfast and lunch.
The goal is to "transform our business into a food and beverage destination," Harris said.
People felt that they sacrificed quality for convenience when grabbing food from a gas station, he said. Thorntons saw improved food as an advantage it could have over its competition after consumer studies found that people believe all convenience stores are essentially the same.
"That was depressing to us," he said. "It doesn't have to be that way. We have to work on quality first."
Thorntons is a leading independent gasoline and convenience retailers operating throughout the Midwest under the brand name Thorntons. Based in Louisville, Ky., Thorntons operates 178 gas stations and convenience stores, car washes and travel plazas in six states: Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Florida. And it distributes petroleum products through its wholly owned Thornton Transportation Co. and operates a river bulk storage terminal in Louisville.
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