What if you could fill up your gas tank, and also pick up a matcha and a high-end soft-serve cone? That’s Alex Canter’s vision for the future—and for his convenience-store brand Maggie’s.
Canter believes it’s time for the c-store industry in Los Angeles to level up. To him, this means creating a cleaner, safer experience at a gas station and c-store, and offering highly curated consumer packaged goods (CPG) and foodservice items.
“We see an opportunity to create something that's very exciting, and something that people will want to go in and discover new treats and treat themselves,” Canter told CSP Daily News.
Maggie’s—named after Canter’s French and English bulldog mix—raised $2 million in its pre-seed funding round from investors including Matchstick Ventures, Mucker Capital and Everywhere Ventures. Canter said he’s still looking for Maggie’s first site, but it will be in Los Angeles, and it likely will open in the second half of 2026. He plans on flipping existing gas stations into Maggie’s and estimates his stores will measure 2,000 square feet.
In addition to being the CEO and founder of Maggie’s Refuel Inc., Canter is a fourth-generation family member of L.A.’s iconic Canter’s Deli, which has been open since 1931. He also cofounded virtual restaurant company Nextbite, which he sold in 2023 to hospitality mogul Sam Nazarian.
“I was sort of raised in a kitchen,” Canter said. “Hospitality is in my blood. I'm a big foodie.”
He’s inspired by his travels to convenience stores across the world, like Italy’s Autogrill and 7-Eleven in Japan.
“I walk through the aisles of those convenience stores with enthusiasm, and excitement and this like feeling of like, ‘Oh, I want to try all these different things.’ And I end up grabbing like five or 10 items that I've never had before from fresh prepared food like rice balls, and other things… little snacks and beverages and all that,” he said.
Canter is hoping to recreate that feeling in Los Angeles and lean into the “treat yourself” culture, in which customers want to buy the most delicious things that they can find on a shelf, he said.
Maggie’s will still carry c-store favorites, like Peanut M&M’s, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and Diet Coke, Canter said.
“We’re not going to pretend like that’s not what people still want today,” he said. “We’re still going to carry the main staples that people love and expect in a convenience store, it’ll just be in a smaller, curated section of the store called ‘the classics.’’’
That curation bleeds into foodservice, too. Canter said stores won’t have a full kitchen. To get the best croissants or bagels, for example, Maggie’s will partner with a local bakery rather than make them in-house.
Canter draws inspiration—and lessons—from Foxtrot, the Chicago-based urban convenience-store that abruptly closed in April 2024, but has been slowly reopening stores in Chicago and Dallas.
“The first time I walked into a Foxtrot, I was blown away at the experience,” Canter said. “I loved the idea of a modern convenience store, of something that was curated with emerging brands, and fun snacks products on the shelf … and the digital ordering capabilities—to be able to pick up a quick coffee and on the way to work, but also a bottle of wine and some flowers, I loved that concept. And I can’t tell you how much I’ve been craving that for a long time.”
There’s a lot to learn from Foxtrot’s journey, though, he said.
“They grew too fast, too quickly and had big, expensive buildouts in high-profile areas, where the payback periods were challenging,” Canter said. “Their labor model was also a lot. And I think they were trying to do too many dayparts.”
One of the biggest differentiators of Maggie’s business model, he said, is that a gas station organically gets hundreds of daily site visits, and a lot of those people are also coming into the c-store. Maggie’s may have electric vehicle (EV) chargers at some locations, too.
Maggie’s advisors include former 7-Eleven President and CEO Jim Keyes and Starbucks Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer Meredith Sandland. Keyes was CSP's Retail Leader of the Year in 2003.
“We’re very excited to bring this to life, starting in L.A.,” Canter said. “We want to build many Maggie’s across the L.A. market before we consider other West Coast markets, but we have desires to go build an awesome brand in this category and really create something that’s safe, clean and fun.”
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