CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Just days after the company announced that it was acquiring two Fill n Stations in Tennessee, St. Louis-based supermarket chain Schnucks Markets Inc. said it is preparing to test standalone convenience stores with gasoline pumps outside its grocery stores by adding them to its two stores in Champaign-Urbana, Ill., and the one under construction at Savoy Plaza, according to the Urbana/Champaign News-Gazette, citing Schnucks spokesperson Lori Willis.
The company has already started tearing up the ground outside the Champaign and Urbana [image-nocss] groceries and plans to have the c-stores open by early fall, Willis told the newspaper. The Savoy c-store will open along with the new grocery, also sometime in the early fall, she added.
The Savoy and Urbana stores will each have 12 fueling stations, and the Champaign store will have 10. The c-stores will be stocked with basic items for shoppers who do not want to take the time to shop in the larger groceries.
Schnucks first acquired some stores with fueling stations in the South when it acquired Sessel's stores, said the report, but it is only now starting to add gasoline pumps at its existing stores. Willis said the company is trying the concept in Champaign-Urbana and Savoy first because the Savoy store is under construction and the Champaign and Urbana stores had the available land.
We believe our customers in the Champaign area will respond well to the convenience of having the fuel centers so close to the grocery stores, she said.
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