Farm Stores Grocery Inc.

A grocery/bakery/cafe franchise chain established more than 60 years ago, Farm Stores owns and operates some sites while the majority are in the hands of independent franchise owners. Across all 44 locations, Farm Stores strives to provide an "express lane" version of a traditional supermarket where customers can remain in their vehicles to buy goods, a component that became more compelling when the health pandemic of early 2020 occurred. From milk and eggs, fresh produce, ready-to-eat hot and cold snacks and beverages like freshly-brewed coffee, Farm Stores is known as "La Vaquita," Spanish for "little cow," which serves as its brand icon. The Farm Stores 4.0 initiative was implemented several years ago, designed as a brand refresh marked by updated appliances, a cloud-based POS system, online ordering app and overall updated look.A nostalgic experience for multiple generations of Floridians, Farm Stores branched out to communities across the U.S. To wit: it started franchising in Florida in 2015, and now has 28 operating franchise locations there, with new ones under construction in Florida, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Louisiana and Connecticut. In February 2020, the oldest drive-thru convenience store entered the Long Island, N.Y. market, while in fall 2019, the chain celebrated the grand opening of its first locations in Louisiana and Texas.For benchmarking purposes, store counts are year-end 2019.