Dive Brief:

• Toot’n Totum Food Stores has announced plans to open 18 to 20 locations in Lubbock, Texas, about 120 miles south of its headquarters in Amarillo, Texas, according to a report from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
• Toot’n Totum’s expansion to Lubbock is expected to begin in either the first or second quarter of 2023 with store openings at 11301 Slide Road and 8306 Upland Ave.
• This signals a big jump for Toot’n Totum, which is growing its total c-store count by more than 20% with the expansion.

Dive Insight:

Toot’n Totum is going all-in on its latest expansion, calling the move “Lubbock or bust” on its website. 

Andrew, Mitchell, the company’s COO, told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that Toot’n Totum has been looking to move into Lubbock — the 11th-most populous city in Texas — “for quite some time.”

"Lubbock is a dynamic town, and we want to be a part of the growth,” he said.

Toot’n Totum did not respond by press time to a request for details on its expansion to Lubbock.

The new stores are expected to bring about 350 to 400 jobs to Lubbock, according to the report.

One of the new locations will have a Wendy’s — a partnership that Toot’n Totum forged in 2018, according to its website — while others may have a Mitch’s Texas Style BBQ, a popular chain in Amarillo, according to the report. 

Additionally, Toot’n Totum is working on a partnership with a pastry company to add fresh donuts and kolaches to the stores and will also offer drive-thrus at the locations.

The expansion to Lubbock will bring Toot’n Totum’s total store count to more than 100, a milestone that has only been reached by about 75 c-store chains nationwide. While most of Toot’n Totum’s c-stores are in Texas, the company also operates three sites in Kansas, one in Oklahoma and one in New Mexico.

With 87 stores currently in its network, Toot’n Totum is the sixth largest c-store chain based in Texas. It trails BW Gas & Convenience Holdings, which operates 403 Yesway and Allsup’s stores; CEFCO Convenience Stores, which operates 230 sites; Cal’s Convenience, which operates 209 Stripes c-stores; Gulshan Enterprises, which operates 136 Handi Plus and Handi Stop c-stores; and Panjwani Energy, which operates 120 Star Stop c-stores.