BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Knight Commerce Centre Inc., the owner of the NexStore gas station, convenience store, gourmet market and deli combo in Boca Raton, Fla., filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on Friday, according to federal bankruptcy records obtained by CSP Daily News.
Knight Commerce Centre lists assets and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million. The company, headed by Bill Knight, owes DEI Food Service, Hollywood, Fla., $150,000 and the Palm Beach County Tax Collector $100,335, according to the papers. Florida Community Bank of Immokalee last year filed a foreclosure [image-nocss] against Knight, saying he had not made a payment on his loan since May 2007, said The Palm Beach Post. (Click the Download Now button to view the list of creditors.)
A meeting of creditors is scheduled for Sept. 5, 2008, according to the court documents.Knight reportedly began developing gas/c-store combos in Florida in the late 1960s. The original NexStore concept location opened in December 2004. In April 2007, CSP Daily News reported that the company was offering NexStore Express franchise opportunities in South Florida.
The original store is a 12,500-square-foot facility featuring ready-to-go cuisine that includes sushi, pizza and Cornish game hens. It features a bakery, a Starbucks cafe, juice bar and meals to go. The typical NexStore Express franchise would be about 3,000 square feet, and would contain the chef's Showcase, the center attraction featuring more than 30 chef-crated gourmet meals along with a grab-and-go display. Each store would also feature a bakery, café, deli, grill, sushi bar, salad bar and Chinese food station.
NexStore's food is cooked on site and "recipe engineered" to give it a restaurant-quality taste. Chefs have a minimum five years' experience in high-volume cooking. There is a "grab-and-go" section: three open-air refrigerated cases—one with imported wine, champagne, dessert wine, imported and domestic beers, gourmet soda and water and the other two with 12 soups, sushi, salads and meals, such as chicken parmigiana with linguine and teriyaki salmon with rice. Also, it offers made-to-order sandwiches, sushi and salad stations and a build-your-own-pasta station. The deli has 100 varieties of cheese, and the hot grill station cooks and carves chicken and fish. Cuisines of all styles—from Greek and Italian to Mexican and Cuban—are represented.
The store has an outside patio with 24 tables and seating for 100 people, as well as a separate 24-hour c-store.
Knight, an Exxon distributor, said NexStore brands its own gasoline to keep the price at its 20 pumps competitive. Unlike other gas stations, customers won't be able to leave their cars at the pump and go into the market. They will, however, have 211 parking spaces to choose from. Knight said he is considering a free valet service at the pump island.Click herefor a video tour of NexStore.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.