Expressions of care start and end with employees, and Rutter’s was one of just three chains in the contest—along with QuikTrip and Twice Daily—to earn a perfect score in the employees category of the revealed audit section of CSP and Intouch Insight’s Mystery Shop evaluation.
People want to work for Rutter’s because they know they’re working for a winner, Desiree Dennis, senior director of operations, said. The culture is highly competitive but also fun, with a lot of teamwork.
“We, we don’t play to lose,” she said.
York, Pennsylvania-based Rutter's earned a final overall score of 93.9%, topping Worcester, Massachusetts-based Nouria’s 92.9% and Pleasanton, California-based ExtraMile Convenience Stores’ 92.6% in this year’s Mystery Shop.
Rutter’s recognizes the importance of its store-level team over its senior team, said Scott Hartman, president and CEO.
“Our store managers, we know they make the difference, and so we compensate them very well,” Hartman said. “We look for only the top managers who can manage a staff of 35 to 50 people. And we want them every day to have a happy day in the store with the customers because when a customer comes in, that’s what they want. They want somebody happy, wanting to talk to them, work with them—and that’s what Desiree and the team hire for.”
- Rutter’s is No. 75 on CSP’s 2026 Top 202 U.S. c-store chains by store count.
With a good manager, this is an important ingredient that then permeates through the store, Hartman said.
“There’s a million lousy jobs in retail, but there aren’t that many great jobs, and the really great people are looking for the great jobs, and that’s who we’re going after,” he said.
After employees, interior was the revealed audit’s second-best category for Rutter’s, which tied for first place with Twice Daily at 98.4%.
Dennis has been working with her teams for them to understand the importance of when somebody walks in a store, Hartman said. “What do they see?” he asked. “How do they feel?”
Being in the food industry requires vigilance with food safety and keeping up the appearance of a store, including the bathrooms, Hartman said. The state of the bathroom is directly tied to whether someone will purchase food in a convenience store, he said.
“Will they feel comfortable about your food, your quality, your safety?” Hartman asked, adding that Rutter’s bathrooms have been a place of emphasis for well over a decade.
Dennis added, “I firmly believe you can keep or lose a customer based on your restroom.”
Employees are trained “top to bottom” on how to properly clean restrooms, which are checked multiple times daily, Dennis said.
“It’s kept on a structured list of tasks for them,” she said. “It’s in front of them all the time.”
LED lighting on each store shelf is another area where Rutter’s has stepped up its game, Hartman said.
“Lighting really pronounces what we’re selling but also shows you we’re not a dark, dingy, overstocked store,” Hartman said. “We’re bright, clean and willing to shine the light where it should be shown, so when people look at the packaging, they’re not going to see dirt, dust. They're not going to have questions.”
Shelving at newer locations also features rows with a spring device that pushes a product to the front of the shelf when a customer removes one.
“We always look like we’re in stock, because when somebody pulls a bag of chips, the shelving faces it immediately,” Hartman said.
In fountain drinks, Rutter’s scored 98%, tied for third. It’s an area where Rutter’s has been trying to bring some excitement, Hartman said.
“In fountain, it's not a big innovation area, so in our newest stores, we’re testing a fountain system which kind of looks like a beer tap system,” he said.
Like every other place in the store, this area must be clean, Hartman said, “like you were the first customer there using it.”
To keep the area maintained, Rutter’s uses an in-house maintenance staff and external companies.
“We don’t want any equipment down that’s critical, and a fountain machine would be on the critical side of our business line, because if somebody truly is coming in for fountain versus bottled, we have to be in business,” he said.
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