SMYRNA, Ga. -- RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. is planning to build its new "signature" convenience store in its own backyard in Smyrna, Ga., reported The Smyrna-Vinings Patch. "This will be our flagship store," RaceTrac real-estate representative Meredith McElveen told the online newspaper. "This is something that we and the community are going to be proud of."
A few years ago, the company was headquartered in the Highlands Industrial Park in Smyrna before relocating to a new office building near Cumberland Mall. Now it wants to build a state-of-the-art showcase store [image-nocss] just down the street, said the report.
A standard RaceTrac features 20 to 24 fueling positions and a 5,000 square-foot or larger c-store. The new store is projected to approach 6,500 square feet and will feature a larger selection of fresh food items, the report added.
"We're going for a more market concept," McElveen said. "It will be a place where people can come in and get everything thing they need: a one-stop shop."
According to the Patch, at a recent informal meeting allowing area residents to ask questions and learn more about the new store, Smyrna City Councilperson Melleny Pritchett said, "Our traffic engineer, city engineer and RaceTrac's traffic engineer have worked out the intersection plans so it won't be a delay for the people on Bell Drive. It's going to be a pass-by for people to get gas on their way to work. I told [RaceTrac officials] that if we're going to have a store on Spring Road coming into Smyrna, it's got to be special, and it will. I'm very excited."
The plans are for the proposed store to go before the Smyrna Planning and Zoning Board on May 9, said the report, and then the Smyrna Mayor and City Council the following week. If all goes well with subsequent reviews and permitting, groundbreaking could take place in early fall with a possible late-year store opening.
The retailer is planning a similarly designed store in the area on the site of a former Home Depot store, the report said.
"These will be a lot bigger stores than people are accustomed to seeing from RaceTrac," McElveen said. "We're doing all new stack stone trying to make the outside look like a market. It's a brand new design and a brand new market concept that we think people will like."
Click herefor more images of the new store in the Patch.
In other company news, RaceTrac is doing its part during April's National Parkinson's Awareness Month by committing to raise $100,000 or more for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Through RaceTrac's Coffee for a Cause promotion, proceeds from all coffee and specially marked World's Finest Chocolate bars sold between April 25 and April 29 at each of RaceTrac's more than 300 stores will be donated to the Fox Foundation. Guests will also be able to donate at the counter or online at www.michaeljfox.org/racetrac.
RaceTrac's 2011 support of The Michael J. Fox Foundation goes beyond Coffee for a Cause. Along with signage promoting the weeklong campaign, Fox Foundation brochures and fact sheets about Parkinson's will be prominently placed in stores. Select markets will also host Founder's Day 5K runs to draw attention to the cause. For each RaceTrac employee who participates in the races, RaceTrac will donate $10 to the Foundation.
Atlanta-based RaceTrac operates more than 300 c-store locations in five southeastern states: Florida, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi (in six metropolitan markets, including Atlanta, New Orleans, Orlando, Tampa, Miami and Dallas). It also operates almost 300 Raceway stores across 12 states in the Southeast with plans to open 20 additional stores in 2011.
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