Big Apple Food Stores

Legendary customer service is CN Brown’s Big Apple Stores’ competitive advantage.

A family business since 1948, the CN Brown Co. began as a retail and wholesale lumber company and expanded into gasoline, heating oil and convenience stores. South Paris, Maine-based CN Brown operates 76 Big Apple Food Store convenience outlets throughout New England.

Big Apple Stores offer a mix of foodservice options. Three sites feature the company’s proprietary Big Apple Deli program with breakfast, lunch and dinner items, while larger stores include quick-service restaurant brands such as Subway, Dunkin’ Donuts and Chester’s Fried Chicken. Coffee, tea and frozen options round out the dispensed-beverage offer.

The retailer’s Big Apple Rewards loyalty program offers customers the ability to accumulate points with every purchase and save on items they buy the most.

CN Brown has 12 service stations that do not have a c-store, and 27 Red Shield Heating Oil sites. The company distributes fuel to 40 independents and provides electricity to customers in Maine.

Source: Convenience Digital Resource Library, Technomic. For benchmarking purposes, store counts are year-end 2017.

Photo courtesy of CN Brown Co.