Dive Brief:
- Country Fair, a convenience retailer with stores across Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York, is set to open a larger, more grocery-focused c-store in Erie, Pennsylvania’s Flagship City Public Market on May 7, the company announced on social media.
- The 8,000-square-foot location is “twice the size of a typical CF store,” the Erie-based convenience retailer noted on Facebook last year.
- Country Fair, which joins Pilot, Stinker Stores and OnCue in testing larger locations, will use some of that added space for “expanded grocery options,” according to a blog post from the Erie Downtown Development Corporation, which is developing the site.
Dive Insight:
Country Fair’s latest location is replacing Erie Food Co-Op and Gordon's Butcher & Market. The convenience retailer seems to be doing its best to fill that same role for the community with its expanded offering.
“Shoppers can look forward to fresh produce, meats, and even ready-made meals, items typically not found in a typical Country Fair convenience store,” according to the Flagship City Public Market blog post. The store will also feature a seating area where customers can eat.
This location and its expanded food and beverage offerings may be particularly important to Erie since the site is in what Drew Whiting, CEO of the EDDC, said is one of the city’s lowest-income neighborhoods.
The EDDC’s blog post also noted that Country Fair plans to continue its tradition of supporting local products at this site, though it did not give any examples.
Most of Country Fair’s 70-plus locations are around 4,000 square feet. The retailer offers standard c-store snacks and drinks alongside alcohol, and a foodservice program that offers breakfast sandwiches, subs, pizzas and salads.
