OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- This edition of New Convenience-Store Roundup features new convenience-store openings, sales, acquisitions and store closings with listings for the month of June 2015.
The unscientifically gathered roundup is by no means complete, but serves as a monthly competitive snapshot of newly opened or closed U.S. convenience stores, gas stations, truckstops and travel centers not previously reported in CSP Daily News.
Many of the stores are owned by independent operators, while others belong to major chains, some part of CSP's Convenience Top 101. Some of them may be your new competitors.
The list has been arranged by state. Click through each item for more details on each store.
Your store not listed? Please send your new-store announcements to Greg Lindenberg at glindenberg@cspnet.com.
Alabama
Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores opened its doors for business along Interstate 85 in Shorter, Ala., on June 25. The new store offers gourmet coffee, fresh fruit, gift items, name-brand electronics and Subway and McDonald’s restaurants. It also features seven showers, 91 truck parking spaces, a Love’s Truck Tire Care center, RFID, cardless fueling and CAT scales.
Florida
7-Eleven franchisees Humayun and Janet Bashir opened a new convenience store in Venice, Fla., on June 26.
A convenience store--the Holley Food Mart--reopened in Holley, Fla., on June 21.
Illinois
Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores opened its doors for business along Interstate 64 at Exit 27 in New Baden, Ill., on June 4. The new store offers gourmet coffee, fresh fruit, gift items, name-brand electronics, a Hardee’s restaurant and a game room. It also features seven showers, 97 truck parking spaces, a Love’s Truck Tire Care center, RFID cardless fueling, CAT scales and other driver services.
A 7-Eleven convenience store—formerly a White Hen—closed in mid-June in Evanston, Ill. A spokesperson said the store’s lease had expired and that the franchisee will be assuming another store in the Chicago area.
Indiana
Malik Zia bought the Quick Stop convenience store in Cassville, Ind., in August 2013. It took until June 2015 to open it because of local bureaucratic red tape, she said. The store features gas and all the usual items of a store of that type. It is open 24 hours, and Zia plans on having pizza, pressurized fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, deli sandwiches and more in the next few weeks.
Iowa
Buchanan Energy, which operates Bucky’s Service stations, purchased a GasMart USA station and car wash, which formerly operated as Eddy’s Phillips 66, in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Michigan
Aanikoosing Inc. opened a 3,000-square-foot Ojibwa Express convenience store in Marquette Township, Mich., in late June. The facility, owned by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, has six fueling positions.
The Ground Floor Market opened in Flint, Mich., on June 17. The business, owned by SkyPoint Ventures, offers pastries and sandwiches from Fenton's Crust bakery and The Laundry restaurant
Mississippi
Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores opened its doors for business along Interstate 59 in Poplarville, Miss., on June 11. The new store offers gourmet coffee, fresh fruit, gift items, name-brand electronics and an Arby’s restaurant. It also features seven showers, 70 truck parking spaces, a Love’s Truck Tire Care center, RFID cardless fueling and CAT scales.
New York
Stewart’s Shops opened a new convenience store in Northville, N.Y., on June 5.
A 7-Eleven convenience store in Bensonhurst, N.Y., closed on June 6. A note on the window directed customers to a nearby location.
Pennsylvania
A Sunoco gas station in Sanatoga, Pa., closed in early June.
A longtime Wawa convenience store in Philadelphia’s “Chinatown” closed in early June because of what a note on the door said were "circumstances beyond our control." Spokesperson Lori Bruce said the company hopes to find a new location in the area.
A 7-Eleven convenience store in West Bethlehem, Pa., closed on June 21, the second in the last year.
South Carolina
The Spinx Co. reopened a convenience store in Greenville, S.C., on June 10. It features an indoor and outdoor dining area, an expanded beverage wall with items such as sweet and unsweet flavored iced teas, lemonades and new Spinx Slushy flavors. Shoppers can purchase several new grab-and-go items in the Fresh on the Go and Bakery departments as well as a variety of new craft beer offerings. The opening serves as a reintroduction of the newer, large-store layout at more than 6,500 square feet. It offers two pump islands for increased fueling capacity. The second island, which is set back slightly from the store, offers all three standard fuel grades as well as diesel.
Tennessee
Weigel’s has opened a new convenience store in Claxton, Tenn., with its new Weigel’s Kitchen, offering paninis, smoothies, gourmet coffee and more.
Texas
Buc-ee’s Ltd. opened a new location in Terrell, Texas, on June 15. Josh Smith, the general manager of the new travel plaza, called the new location “Disneyland on the Interstate” because of the experience it provides motorists. The cahin is known for its large stores, the variety of products and services and its clean restrooms.
Stripes opened new convenience stores in Bay City, Texas, on June 3, Liberty, Texas, on June 16 and Edinburg, Texas, on June 29.
The United Family celebrated the grand opening of the company’s first United Supermarkets and 1,472-square-foot United Express gas station and convenience store in Brownwood, Texas, on June 17. In addition to standard convenience items, the United Express store has sandwiches, breakfast burritos and other items available that are made fresh daily in the supermarket. It also has a four-pump (eight-dispenser) fuel station, which offers gasoline and diesel.
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