CHICAGO - Today€™s
convenience stores offer a wide array of fresh, innovative lunchtime offerings,
Advertising Age reports. Recent
research has found that convenience
stores are luring customers away from fast-food restaurants.
"It's on," said Tim
Powell, Technomic director of research and consulting. "It's been very
competitive. C-stores will say the No. 1 concern for growth over the next two
or three years is [quick-service restaurants]."
Chains like 7-Eleven,
Circle K, QuikTrip, Wawa, Sheetz, Thorntons and Quick Chek have focused on
foodservice as a way to garner more in-store traffic and boost sales. "The
total foodservice category continues to grow and now makes up a larger portion
of Thorntons' overall business than ever before," said Melina Patterson, senior
foodservice category manager at Thorntons. She expects with "better focus and
execution, the category is expected to become an even bigger part of the
business."
Since 2005, QuikTrip has
been revamping its locations to improve its foodservice menu, which now
includes fresh sandwiches, fruit, salad and pastries, with an eye to increasing
its grab-and-go selection. But even QuikTrip knows convenience store have an
image problem to overcome when it comes to foodservice. "There's no question
there's a perception issue," said Mike Thornbrugh, spokesman for QuikTrip. "I
don't think it's aimed at QuikTrip, but that's the nature of the industry.
Those kinds of thoughts by the general public are going away. It just takes a
long time."
That is changing faster
now that more people are visiting convenience stores for foodservice.
"Convenience stores have been able to [compete] because they've taken a cue
from fast food in that it's all about convenience and gaining frequency," said
Bonnie Riggs with The NPD Group. "They were not ones to historically do
promotional activity. ... But now they've really tapped into the
value-conscious consumer."