Quicklee’s Convenience Store Smaller Fresher Faster Food Drive Sales

 

Giving customers what they want when they want it is a success clue that every foodservice operator needs to keep top of mind.  Today, grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food continues to drive innovation, customer migration, top-line sales, and bottom-line profits according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Looking for new electricity to drive top-line sales and bottom-line profits, Quicklee’s partnered with the Red Osier Food Cart to serve customers lunch during the first three weeks of November at any participating Quicklee’s location. Customers can grab a Red Osier prime roast beef sandwich along with a slice of Cheesy Eddie’s cheesecake.

According to Johnson, “focusing on consumers, what drives frequency, and mix & match meal bunding is another success clue that should never be overlooked.”

Now, after customers grab their lunch, they can stop inside Quicklee’s for a drink or bag of chips to complete their meal. Customers can also find a variety of snacks from regional small businesses like NY Chips, Smoke Shack Jerky and Popcorn Charlie’s, or even grab a bottle of Red Osier’s famous au jus.

According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.” 

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, smaller footprint, developing brands, fresh flowers, grocerant positioning, fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable according to Johnson.  That is just what Quicklee’s is doing.

Here is where the foundation of success can be found. During the first three weeks of November, customers can grab Red Osiers on:

Mondays from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Quicklee’s Fairport (North Main)
Fairport, N.Y.

Tuesdays from 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Quicklee’s Webster
Webster, N.Y.

Thursdays 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Quicklee’s Geneseo
Geneseo, N.Y.

In case you did not know, Quicklee’s Convenience Stores have been family owned and operated since 1995. Under the leadership of Ken Perelli, Quicklee’s remains focused on expansion and offering its brand of fast, clean, friendly service to each and every new community it serves. In 2017 Quicklee’s expanded its business model to include travel center locations, and in 2018 it launched the Go Local program, which provided sales, marketing and in-store placement support to local food manufacturers.

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company edify your brand with relevance.  Call 253-759-7869 for more information. 

Quicklee’s Convenience Stores Doubles Down on Food for Growth

Retailers large and small have been tracking the success derived after companies add grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.  Regular readers of this blog know that 25,740 plus unique views a day of this blog across all Foodservice Solutions® social media platforms alone is a sign of the strength of the grocerant niche.

Quicklee’s Convenience Stores, a 14-store chain in upstate New York, positioned itself for aggressive growth in 2018 adding new stores and remodeling many current stores after it recently debuted a new 11,500-square-foot travel center complete with two c-stores, amenities for professional drivers and a food court.

Quicklee’s Vice President Ken Perelli, vice president stated  we replaced the previous Quicklee’s spanned 2.5 acres with a 3,500-square-foot c-store featuring a Dunkin’ Donuts, as well as a separate car wash. “We tore down the 3,500-square-foot building and its existing gas canopy, which had five pumps total,” ….

“Quicklee’s expanded the property by an additional six acres, constructing a new, 11,500-square-foot building. The forecourt includes six diesel, non-ethanol pumps and six high-speed diesel and DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) dispensers out back. The car wash remained, and the chain added a 7,500-square-foot truck maintenance building and a CAT scale. By converting the property to a travel center, Quicklee’s was able to offer its local community a bigger, all-inclusive c-store.

Perelli continued “In the main building area we have two convenience stores—each about 2,500 square feet. One has traditional convenience items. Then we have a truck-specific convenience store. We still have Dunkin’ Donuts and we have a New York-style deli called Calabresella’s,” Calabresella’s serves both hot and cold foods, including wraps, pasta and potato salads, specialty Italian sodas, and also sells meats and cheeses by the pound.

“If you imagine the building being broken up into thirds, the left side features a traditional c-store with a Dunkin’ Donuts. The middle third is actually a food court with seating for 50, and the right side features the Calabresella’s and the truck-stop convenience store. The far side of the truck stop features a laundry facility, changing area, four private showers and restrooms with heated floors,” Perelli said. The site can easily accommodate 100 guests within a few minutes….

The food court features a proprietary food area called the “Chill and Fill,” as well as a fireplace, a large screen TV, leather chairs and sofas. Food options include a soda fountain, a soup bar, a pizza station, chicken dinner, chicken fingers, pretzel rolls, corn dogs, hot dogs, mashed potatoes and mac n cheese. Grab-and-go options also abound, including salads, puddings, string cheese and cold-cut sandwiches.

Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® agrees with his team that doubling down on grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food will drive traffic, build sales all while increasing the bottom line. 

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant