Convenience stores Drive-Thru’s building momentum.

There is a long list of convenience stores operators who are using or testing drive-thru’s including Quickie Mart Hackensack, N.J. Dairy Barn, New York. Bennie’s, drive-through convenience store Arizona, The Kwik Trip convenience store chain, Wisconsin. Loveland Farms Drive-Thru Albuquerque, New Mexico and Pak-A-Sak.

Prepared ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat food has been the staple of the QSR industry for years. Most offer bundled grocerant meal solutions with three choices small, medium or large. Recently the Convenience Store sector has been working hard to expand fresh food offerings via drive-thru as well.

It looks as if Texas based Pak-A-Sak Inc. might just have found the right formula. The first drive-thru opened now accounts for 33 percent of all grocery sales at that store. Given the positive customer response, all new Pak-A-Sak convenience stores will have a drive-thru a third is already under development. The largest selling items for Pak-A-Sak reportedly are cigarettes, fountain drinks and beer.

Drug stores have utilized Drive Thru’s for years it will be interesting to see if with fresh prepared food sales picking up dramatically they might begin to sell or dispense more than drugs via the drive thru? The conversion of the store window would be relatively inexpensive.

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