ATLANTA, GA -- Customers who visit Home Depot to pick out paint samples and liquid nails will soon have the option to also fuel up their vehicles, purchase a bag of chips and their favorite soft drink prior to leaving the parking lot.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Home Depot will open the first of four convenience stores in February, Home Depot Fuel, in the Nashville area.

"Home Depot will join a handful of big-box retailers, including Kroger, Wal-Mart and Costco, that have tried using gas stations next to their stores to give consumers another reason to stop in," writes the newspaper.

Within the next five years, Home Depot is planning to have 300 Home Depot Fuel locations in operation, said Home Depot Executive Vice President of Business Development and Operations Frank Blake on Jan. 18.

The first Home Depot convenience store is slated to open on Feb. 1 in Brentwood, Tenn., followed by other stores in June.

"Unlike many other retailers with gas stations, we can offer a convenience store that doesn't compete with the 'host' store," said Blake

The newspaper writes that each Home Depot location is expected "to ring up from $5 million to $7 million in sales annually," and that the addition of convenience stores "could add $1.5 billion to the chain's total sales by 2010."

Like Home Depot, which reports that construction contractors represent 25 percent of its customer base, convenience stores also cater to construction workers for their morning coffee, gasoline fill-ups and grab-and-go breakfast meals.

"We think the economics here will be attractive," said Blake, adding, "Pro customers are the heaviest weekday users of convenience stores.

Meanwhile, as retailers strive to satisfy consumers with convenience products and gasoline, they are also able to "cross-promote" by offering discounts on fuel when purchasing other in-store merchandise--therefore giving customers "additional incentive to stop in," notes the newspaper.

However, more and more big-box retailers and grocery stores are beginning to realize selling gasoline in conjunction with discounts from in-store sales can boost store traffic and increase their profitability. 

"Last year, 3,580 supermarkets, discount retailers and warehouse clubs captured nearly 8 percent of total fuel sales," writes the newspaper, "compared with 75 percent sold by 110,000 convenience stores, according to Energy Analysts International."

EAI also predicted that by 2008, 8 percent market share "will about double to nearly 15.5 percent."