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'Do you want fries and a fill-up with that, sir?' C-stores compete for restaurant business

As if the restaurant business weren't competitive enough already, now it appears that convenience stores want in on the action, too. There's no telling how such a trend might change the food-service industry.

August 16, 2016 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

As if the restaurant business weren't competitive enough already, now it appears that convenience stores want in on the action, too. And, if the three major chains that have entered the game find it to be a profitable one, there's no telling how the trend might change the food-service industry. 

Much of this move toward creating restaurants inside existing convenience stores began when 7-Eleven entered the fast food game by offering restaurant-style menu items in stores. Today, at most of the chain's 8,000 locations, you can pick up a six-pack and toilet paper and order from an assortment of entree salads, side dishes, pizza, chicken and burgers — mostly to-go basis. 

This week, two other chains jumped into the restaurant service game with both feet, as well, including Thorntons gas-and-go stores in the South and Midwest, and TravelCenters of America, which is reopening its Iron Skillet location outside of Las Vegas in a $2.5 million pilot test.

Thorntons — which operates nearly 200 stores in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee  — announced its new "Real Kitchen. Real Food." initiative at 28 locations near the chain's corporate headquarters in Louisville. A company press release said that the pilot will run from August through October. 

Selected Thorntons locations will debut "real kitchens and real cooks" whipping up high-quality offerings right in the store, according to Thorntons leadership. The program caters particularly to the expectation of millennials. Research has shown that, in choosing restaurants, this demographic places almost equal priority on fresh, healthful foods and time-saving food delivery. 

"We believe you should be able to get quality, quantity and convenience all in one place," Thorntons President Tony Harris said in a news release about the campaign. “That’s why we’re going beyond gas and changing the perception of what convenience stores have to offer."

The the menu of Thorntons new convenience store cookeries includes offerings that range from full breakfast, lunch and dinner to snack items such as salted pretzels. All items are designed to be prepared in stores and sent on their way to customers within about three minutes. 

"Real is powerful," said Harris. "To us, real means honest, trustworthy and authentic. That's what makes our new store concept different than any others in the region."

The Thorntons pilot debuts today in Kentucky and Indiana markets and runs through October. During this time, the company will also promote the initiative in a full media campaign featuring the fictitious "Val," who is portrayed as a lover of the types of healthful, high-quality foods that her millennial peers are known to favor. Media will include TV and radio, print and social media venues such as Twitter and Snapchat, where filters will geo-target potential customers of nearby concept stores. 

Meanwhile, that ubiquitous interstate convenience store chain, TravelCenters of America, is "relaunching" the TA Restaurant Group's Iron Skillet eatery at a busy location off Interstate 80 in Sparks, Nevada. 

The chain spent $2.5 million on a Western-themed remodeling and reopening of this location near the Alamo Casino. Perhaps of greatest interest is the new menu that, according to a press release, is part of a test by the TA Restaurant Group to offer customers "a significantly upgraded experience." 

TA said the new Iron Skillet offers a higher-quality food and dining experience than customers have come to expect from a truckstop. The new menu features USDA choice cuts of meat that are hand-cut on site and cooked over a mesquite-wood fire. 

The press release said that the menu will feature baby back ribs, smoked in-house; fresh, never-frozen, hand-battered chicken; buffet specials; all-you-can-eat soup-and-salad bars; and a full, sit-down, prepared-on-site breakfast, as well as a weekend breakfast buffet complete with an omelet station. The new restaurant will operate around the clock to compete at all hours with other area chains.

"The new Iron Skillet in Sparks offers our guests fresh, unique food options," said John Ponczoch, senior vice president of TA and leader of the TA Restaurant Group. "We are excited and eager to showcase our new Iron Skillet concept to the public and offer our guests more quality, more choices, great customer service, and fresh, home-cooked meals."

The question remains, whether the Thorntons or TA pilots will result in a future rollout to the chains' other locations. If prove profitable, it's quite likely that they will.

And if this happens, the whole dynamic of restaurant competition around busy gas-and-go locations will change. What will be the next step for traditional restaurant chains in this kind of competitive environment? Will McDonald's start offering to fill your tank at the drive-thru? 

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.