Royal Farms

Royal Farms opened its first convenience store in Baltimore in 1959 under the name White Jug. Today, the mid-Atlantic chain has 304 locations in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

The Baltimore-based convenience-store chain expanded into North Carolina in 2023, with the opening of a new store in the community of Grandy. Other communities targeted for expansion were New Bern, Greenville, Lumberton, Kinston and Jacksonville.

Store menus focus on the retailer's "world-famous" chicken, which was awarded "best fast-food fried chicken" by Food and Wine magazine. Royal Farms also offers a variety of side dishes, such as macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes, and customers can take a complete meal or platter home. Other foodservice offers include Royal Farms' hot or iced coffee from bean-to-cup machines and f'real milkshakes at the blending station. Every location features surcharge-free ATMs, air-pump stations, lottery and fuel. Car washes are available at select locations.

Royal Farms launched an updated mobile app with a point system and other new capabilities in early 2022. It includes mobile ordering that allows customers to order ahead for delivery or pickup.

For benchmarking purposes, store counts are as of Jan. 1, 2025.