VALPARAISO, Ind. -- Family Express Corp. is undertaking the most ambitious development schedule in its 40-year history by opening five convenience stores in 2018, the company said. As part of this development, the retailer is entering a new market in suburban Indianapolis.
“This will include the development of sites under contract in Carmel, Zionsville and Whitestown, Ind.,” said Gus Olympidis, president and CEO of the Valparaiso, Ind.-based chain. The Carmel site will feature an art deco architectural style mandated by the local community.
Along with those three sites, the company is on schedule to deliver two additional stores, currently under construction, before Christmas.
With a new, 5,500-square-foot prototype, Family Express is emphasizing its proprietary Cravin’s To Order restaurants. The menu features fresh, made-to-order pizza, boneless wings, pretzels, breakfast bowls and breakfast sandwiches. It offers interior and exterior seating for 28. Cravin’s To Order restaurants are replenished daily by the Family Express Central Distribution Center.
All new stores also feature a pet wash and the ability to sell a car wash code that would be digitally redeemable at any Family Express Car Wash.
- Family Express is No. 99 in CSP's 2018 Top 202 ranking of c-store chains by number of company-owned retail outlets.
Valparaiso, Ind.-based Family Express was founded in 1975. It operates 70 c-stores in northern and central Indiana. The company recently opened its second state-of-the-art learning center in Lafayette, Ind.
Photograph courtesy of Family Express
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