Dive Brief:

• Applegreen is about two-thirds of the way through its $450 million travel center remodel program along the New York State Thruway, a company spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.
• In mid-2021, Dublin, Ireland-based Applegreen — which has about 100 travel centers in the U.S. — and the New York State Thruway revealed plans to “redevelop and modernize” the retailer’s 27 locations along the highly trafficked route. Upgrades have included new restaurant concepts, outdoor seating and the addition of EV charging stations, among other things.
• The spokesperson said 18 remodels are now complete “and the remainder are due to be finished in the first quarter of next year.” As of last month, Applegreen said it’s expecting to have 24 of the 27 remodels done by the end of this year.

Dive Insight:

Applegreen’s remodel program has been entirely funded by Empire State Thruway Partners, which is a division of the retailer’s parent company, Applegreen Limited, the Thruway noted in several past announcements. To date, the project hasn’t received any funding from toll or tax dollars.

The first remodel was completed in August 2022 — about a year after the project kicked off. Since then, Applegreen and the Thruway finished 17 remodels in about 22 months, with the 18th location reopening this June. 

The project calls for 23 new developments and refurbishing four existing sites, Applegreen’s spokesperson said. The size of each travel plaza on the Thruway ranges from about 3,900 square feet to 20,000 square feet. 

Many remodeled locations feature restaurants such as Shake Shack, Starbucks, Panera, Panda Express, Burger King and Popeyes. Some also feature dog walking areas, playgrounds and nursing areas. Earlier this year, Applegreen revealed plans to install at least 70 electric vehicle chargers across 13 of its travel centers in New York by the end of 2024 as part of this program.

“Working closely in partnership with the New York State Thruway Authority, Applegreen is redeveloping the plazas on a phased basis to minimize the impact on travelers,” Applegreen’s spokesperson said in a statement to C-Store Dive. “No two consecutive service areas were closed at the same time and gas continued to be available at all service areas during construction.”

This week, several leaders from Enterprise Ireland — the Irish government’s enterprise development agency — including its CEO, attended the grand opening of Applegreen’s upgraded travel center in Ardsley, New York. They were joined by Applegreen President Zack Kollias, VP of Operations Matthew Scally and VP of Commercial Michael Levy. The Ardsley location was remodeled in June 2023 and was the seventh travel center to finish its upgrades as part of the project.