Dive Brief:
- RaceTrac’s first Indiana store will open in mid-December in Indianapolis, according to an emailed press release on Friday.
- RaceTrac also has plans in the works to expand to South Carolina and Ohio. The first two South Carolina stores are expected to open next month in Greenville and St. George, a RaceTrac spokesperson said via email, while the timeline for Ohio has not yet been finalized.
- RaceTrac joins a number of companies, including Wawa, Buc-ee’s and Rutter’s, in expanding to new states. Openings in Indiana, South Carolina and Ohio will boost RaceTrac’s footprint to 11 states.
Dive Insight:
Like numerous other c-store chains, RaceTrac is pushing beyond its core operating region and hoping it can win over shoppers in new states.
RaceTrac’s Indianapolis site will offer an array of grab-and-go food including pizza, sandwiches, fruit, salads, hot dogs and Tornados, which are battered and fried tortillas filled with meat, cheese and spices. In addition, the store will include six coffee blends and the company’s Swirl World station, which offers frozen yogurt, sorbets and a variety of toppings.
RaceTrac sites are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The inaugural Indiana location is expected to employ about 40 people.
“We have put a great deal of thought and research into the selection of this new location,” said Justen Giambalvo, vice president of construction, engineering and special projects at RaceTrac.
A second location in the state is expected to open in late spring.
Two of RaceTrac’s three new states, Indiana and Ohio, are also targets of Pennsylvania-based Wawa as part of its seven-state growth plan. That retailer announced multi-year plans for both states including dozens of sites.
RaceTrac currently operates more than 570 stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. It also owns Raceway c-stores, which has more than 200 locations across 12 states in the Southeast.
