C.N. Brown

A family business since 1948, South Paris, Maine-based C.N. Brown Co. started as a retail and wholesale lumber company and grew into gasoline, heating oil and convenience stores.

It operates 74 Big Apple Food Store convenience outlets in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont offering a mix of foodservice options. The chain opened a new location in Colebrook, N.H., in 2021.

Three Big Apple sites feature the company's proprietary Big Apple Deli program with breakfast, lunch and dinner items, while bigger locations have quick-service restaurant brands such as Dunkin', Chester's fried chicken and Subway. Coffee, tea and frozen options round out the dispensed-beverage offerings.

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

C.N. Brown has 12 gas stations without a c-store and 27 Red Shield Heating Oil sites. The company distributes fuel to 40 independents and provides electricity to customers in Maine.

For benchmarking purposes, store counts are as of Jan. 1, 2022.