GLEN ALLEN, Va. -- John Felico never envisioned having one of his Dominic's of New York food eateries inside a convenience store. "It just wasn't the type of environment I saw us being in," said Felico, president of FoodNet Franchising Inc., owner of Dominic's.
Most Dominic's locations are kiosk carts in front of Lowe's home-improvement stores, although the company does operate a few caf as inside office buildings and at the Pentagon. Felico changed his mind after getting a call from Steven Uphoff, owner of the Chester, Va.-based Uppy's Convenience Stores [image-nocss] Inc. chain. Uphoff was building a new store in western Henrico County, Va., and wanted Dominic's as the food operator.
According to the Richmond Times Dispatch report, Felico liked the Uppy's operation. He decided to give the c-store arena a try.
A Dominic's of New York Pronto Caf a opened last week inside Uppy's "On the Run" Exxon station, said the report.
"It is hard to take your concept that people are used to seeing in a specific venue and convert it to another venue and tweak it, but that's what we are doing. It is working," Felico told the newspaper.
Uphoff said he is pleased with having Dominic's inside one of his stores. "They are such a high-quality branded product and they care about the value they present to the customer, he told the paper.
Operating Dominic's caf as inside the Pentagon and some office buildings in Pennsylvania has helped the company make the transition to a c-store setting, Felico added. Those caf as have seating. The Pronto Caf a concept, such as the one at Uppy's, does not.
Also, the menu at the caf a locations is greatly expanded and different from what is offered at the kiosks in front of Lowe's, the report said.
The Pronto Caf a sells paninis, wrap sandwiches, hamburgers and wings in addition to its signature Italian-sausage sandwiches. It also has made-to-order salads as well as breakfast items. "Our menu is all cooked-to-order, and not very many items are grab-and-go," Felico said.
Dominic's has a similar operation at the Pentagon, where it serves about 500 customers in 1.5 hours at lunchtime, said the Times Dispatch.
If the c-store concept works, Felico and Uphoff plan on putting more Pronto Caf as inside new and existing Uppy's. Dominic's has an arrangement to operate inside c-stores only in Uppy's in Virginia, said the report.
Uppy's, operated by Southside Oil LLC, has 38 locations, mostly in central Virginia. The chain has nine more locations in development in the Richmond area, the report said. Uphoff said hopes to put a Dominic's in about 20 of his current locations and in all of the new ones. Five more Pronto Caf as should open by early 2008.
Other foodservice offerings include Subway and Dairy Queen, according to the Uppy's website.
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