Royal Farms

Royal Farms is an operator of neighborhood c-stores throughout Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The chain is working with NCR to equip its stores with self-checkout technology, which the company introduced in 2019, and which gained traction in 2021 as many customers sought touch-free interaction because of the pandemic. Adding self-checkout technology has improved efficiencies for staff and the in-store experience for customers.

The retailer’s Royal Farm’s Reward app also allows consumers to pay for items on the go with a credit or debit card linked to an account.

In April, Royal Farms began ramping up a large-scale hiring effort with the goal of 4,500 new employees by the end of this year. The company increased hourly store employee pay by $2 per hour in May 2021, representing an investment into the chain’s employees of more than $15 million dollars. Store leaders received additional compensation to their weekly salaries throughout the end of the summer.

The company also offered a workplace attendance bonus of $150 a month and a $50 COVID wellness bonus to any employee who completes the full vaccination schedule. Additionally, existing employees who refer a new applicant will earn $300 dollars.

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