Dive Brief:

• United Dairy Farmers held a grand opening July 29 for its newest location, which features the retailer’s urban commercial store design, a UDF spokesperson confirmed by email. 
• UDF first unveiled its urban commercial format in late 2021 in Kentucky. Since then, it has expanded the format to eight other locations in Ohio, including this one, which is the first of its kind in the Dayton area.
• UDF joins several other c-store chains experimenting with new formats, which lets them focus on improving different areas of the store or targeting different types of customers.

Dive Insight:

The urban commercial designs feature a larger back counter for made-to-order food, with the chain’s proprietary Ovenside menu of items that can be cooked on demand in under three minutes. It also features the Dipside counter, where customers can get UDF’s hand-dipped ice cream in malts, sundaes, cones and more.

Ice cream or hot food orders are placed at kiosks. From there, customers receive an order number and a receipt, which they use to pay for the food at checkout. 

Like UDF’s, many other new store formats focus on the food. Loop Neighborhood Markets rolled out a food-only location in a sports arena earlier this year, while Spinx is planning an alternative format store that aims to encourage customers to eat on premise with patios, a children’s play area and more grocery items.

Other chains are also experimenting with larger stores — several have even tried their hand at truck stops, with all the amenities that those entail. 

Yesway has outlined the numerous formats it’s trying out, including a 10,000-square-foot store and a “superette,” which falls somewhere between a grocery store and a convenience store. 

The grand opening celebration for UDF’s newest store, which had a soft opening in late June, ran from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It featured discounts on fuel, drinks, donuts and more. Members of UDF’s U-Drive Plus loyalty program also had the chance to receive additional fuel savings with their accounts over the next month, along with a gas-price locking option that lets them lock in lower fuel prices from earlier in the day until midnight.

Established in 1940, Cincinnati, Ohio-based UDF has around 200 stores and employs about 3,000 people. Its business units include c-stores, wholesale ice cream, manufacturing, commercial baking, real estate, warehousing, transportation and petroleum transportation.