While well-known convenience-store chains have increasingly been eager to open stores in urban settings, keeping them open and profitable has proven a challenge. This week alone, CSP has collected reports of three urban c-stores—typically smaller stores without a gasoline offer—closing their doors.
In Philadelphia, Wawa will close a Center City store July 16, according to a report in The Philadelphia Business Journal.
“While closing a store is always a difficult decision to make, Wawa constantly conducts careful and extensive evaluations of business performance and operational challenges of all stores on an ongoing basis,” company spokesperson Lori Bruce told the newspaper.
While offering no additional details, the news comes after locals complained to Wawa about aggressive panhandling, crime and drug use happening outside of the store, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Similarly, Wawa, in October, permanently closed two downtown Philadelphia stores due to “safety and security challenges” after they were ransacked multiple times. “Despite reducing hours and investing in additional operational measures, continued safety and security challenges and business factors have made it increasingly difficult to remain open in these two locations,” the company said at the time.
Meanwhile, Sheetz will close an 8-year-old store in State College, Pennsylvania—home of Penn State University—in late July, the retailer confirmed.
“Sheetz has made the difficult decision to permanently close its store located along Pugh Street, in State College, Pennsylvania,” Sheetz Public Relations Manager Nick Ruffner said. “It is expected that this store will close in late July. However, all employees at this store location have been offered employment at other nearby Sheetz locations. We thank our customers for their years of support and look forward to serving them at our other locations in the State College area.”
And in Seattle, Amazon closed another of its Amazon Go convenience stores, the second location of its kind to open its doors back in August 2018.
The closing comes three months after Amazon closed eight Amazon Go locations in urban areas of Seattle, New York and San Francisco; however, the retailer says it has no plans for additional closings.
“We’ve closed our 5th and Marion Seattle Amazon Go location, and are working closely with employees to find new opportunities within Amazon, including at other nearby stores,” spokesperson Jessica Martin told CSP. “We continue operating more than 20 Amazon Go stores across the U.S. and look forward to opening more in the future.”
Meanwhile, in December, Kum & Go ended a test of what it called “nonfuel stores,” closing four of five units in Omaha, Nebraska, and Ames and Des Moines, Iowa.
“We are no longer pursuing our urban walkup locations that were rolled out as a test for our organization and started a few years back,” Taylor Boland, director of communications, told CSP at the time. “Kum & Go’s strategy is to offer consistency among all stores, including onsite kitchens, fresh food and a variety of fuels. We've learned a lot from operating these fuel-less concepts; however, they no longer fit into our long-term plans for expansion.”