SOUTHPORT, N.Y. — Pudgie’s Pizza, Pasta & Sub Shops held a soft opening for its new Aces & Eights General Store, the company’s second convenience store and gas station, in Southport, N.Y., on July 7.
In 1963, Michael Cleary Sr. founded regional pizza chain Pudgie’s, David Cleary, president of MP Cleary Inc., Elmira, N.Y., told CSP Daily News. The company’s focus has been on foodservice, and it opened drive-thru windows and delivery service in 2002. But in 2002, the company opened its first Aces & Eights store in Mansfield, Pa.
After trying for several years to buy four parcels of land to build a second c-store, in 2018, Cleary and his brother and business partner Robert Cleary, purchased the properties with the help of a New York state development grant.
Take a look inside the new Aces & Eights c-store …
The exterior of the building and columns, as well as canopy poles at the fuel island feature stone. A heated, stamped concrete sidewalk by ACP, Dundee, N.Y., looks like real wood planking. A multi-colored compass is embedded in the sidewalk in the entrance.
When the company built the first Aces & Eights c-store, it added a pickup window, which is now used equally as a tobacco drive-thru, and since Covid-19, for groceries. It incorporated a pickup window at the new location, as well.
For the fuel dispensers, the company wanted to do “something special,” said Cleary. “Every convenience store puts their name and logos on their pumps, which isn’t bad marketing; however, I wanted to do something different,” he said.
Their father was in the Navy, so they “came up with the idea to pay homage to all our military branches, all our first responders and the American flag,” he said.
The interior of the store features an open floor and ceiling plan with a lot of lighting. It uses wood grain and white floor tiles for contrast. For the ceiling, it uses real cherry paneling.
It also put in two brick accent walls, one in the dining area and another showing off the new Aces & Eights logo.
Another design element is a reproduction 1931 Erie gas pump, customized to Aces & Eights colors and containing a working clock, made by Matt & Krista Wood of Fill-er-er-up.com.
Pudgie’s Pizza wanted to upgrade its coffee program at both stores. Through the pizza chain’s foodservice supplier, Millerton, Pa.-based Keck’s Foodservice, it invested in bean-to-cup technology and equipment. And it partnered with Ellis Coffee, which supplies five types of beans, enabling the stores to offer a variety of flavors.
Working with Merchants Fixtures, Ashland, Va., the new store also features custom-made hot-and-cold beverage islands and a checkout counter with Corian tops and LED lighting.
“Another huge point of difference for us is our attention to dine-in customers,” said Cleary. “Rather than simply throwing a few tables and chairs into a corner, we wanted a place where the neighborhood kids and families want to dine, someplace comfortable for them and travelers to rest, relax and enjoy they're meals.”
The store dedicates real square footage to accommodate larger groups and teams and offers a mix of padded booths and tables with chairs. It also offers a few televisions and has music playing.
The store also dedicates room for customers to dine outside, but the fixtures have been delayed because of the pandemic.
The beer cave, beverage coolers and freezer have real brick exteriors with a stained wood planking above.
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