KINGSTON, MA - Want to pick up a newspaper, milk and bread without leaving your car? Then head on over to Cumberland Farms in Kingston, which is experimenting with a drive-thru grocery store, the Boston Herald reports. The convenience store chain has plans to open a few more grocery drive-thrus by the summer.

Customers can order any of the store??s more than 3,000 products at the speaker menu, which highlights fresh foods and beverages. After placing the orders, customers drive up to the pick-up window to complete the transaction.

"We??re not just in the convenience store business, we??re in the business of providing for the on-the-go customer," said Cumberland Farms President Ari Haseotes. "The drive-thru was really just raising the bar yet another level."

Convenience stores with drive-thrus remain in the minority. "If you can put a newspaper in their hands, you??ve already outdone the (quick-serve restaurant) competition," said Jeff Lenard, NACS spokesman.

The key to success is in keeping the total transaction time as quick as possible. "Transaction time is, absolutely, what convenience stores have over any other channel," said Lenard.

Cumberland Farms is keeping an eye on how fast service is in its pilot stores. "We??ve added some manpower in the store to be able to deliver the same speed of service that customers are accustomed to inside the store," said Haseotes.

For more information about convenience store drive-thrus, check out "The Ins and Outs of Drive Thrus" from NACS Magazine.