Sheetz Joins Casey’s General Stores, Wawa, and 7-Eleven in Migration

The battle for share of stomach is just heating-up! According to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ restaurant customers have been experimenting with and migrating from legacy grocery formats and traditional restaurants to what was once the Convenience store channel. 

Today, the convenience store model has changed.  Wawa describes itself as a “Fast Casual Restaurant To-Go”, Casey’s General Store is now testing a stand-alone pizza concept to complement the top line growth and bottom line profits they have been deriving since they introduced fresh pizza, even 7-Eleven is expanding success selling fresh prepared food. 

The one thing each is doing is evolving the business model to include according to our Grocerant Guru™ units that do not sell gasoline.  The new model evolving in the legacy c-store sector is focus on selling restaurant quality fresh food fast. Each company is expanding into urban markets leveraging mix and match meal bundling a key element moving forward and a driver of the success of the grocerant niche. 

Dave Woodley executive vice president for sales and marketing at Sheetz Inc. sees an unmet need in urban markets for Sheetz quality fresh made-to–order fresh food and beverages complemented by other traditional higher margin convenience store CPG products. Woodley stated; “Our platform has obviously changed from a convenience store to more of a restaurant feel,”

7-Eleven the world’s largest convenience store chain has more units now that don’t sell gasoline than do sell gasoline.  In the United States7-Eleven is still burden with the legacy Roller Grill which remains a mainstay and more of a link to yesterday’s foodservice than tomorrow’s food platform. However with more and more stores opening without gasoline and a new emphasis on fresh that will evolve as well. 

Customers clearly like bundled meal component options which increasingly include fresh food in the new business paradigm unfolding in the legacy convenience store space. 

Do you know how can you work grocerant niche products into your establishment to grow profits and capture customers while they are in your store? Call 253-759-7869 as for the Grocerant Guru™,

visit  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us