3 Big Numbers is a weekly column that looks at a few key details from around the c-store industry.
C-stores still struggle to be seen by consumers as food destinations, but many chains are working to change that. Convenience retailers are putting more time, effort and resources into expanding their menus and launching new partnerships to tempt shoppers into buying a meal at their stores.
In today’s “3 Big Numbers,” we look at Alimentation Couche-Tard’s latest effort to bring new burritos into Circle K’s, Rebel Convenience Stores opening its second Hatch Chicken Co., and Pretzelmaker debuting its first c-store location.
6
The number of Circle K locations slated to get a Burrito Express QSR.
Couche-Tard reached a deal with Phoenix-area restaurant Burrito Express to put its Mexican QSR into some Circle K locations in the city. The first of these sites is open, with five more currently in the works, according to a press release from Burrito Express.
The partnership will follow a “hub-and-spoke model,” in which the kitchens inside Circle K’s stores will make food for their own locations and also for smaller delivery sites. Burrito Express is currently exploring nine of these spoke sites that would be supported by the Circle K locations.
Circle K is not a stranger to partnering with QSRs. It has nearly 300 stores with big names like Subway or Little Caesars. Roughly 5,900 more have Circle K’s proprietary Fresh Food, Fast program.
1,736
The number of miles between Rebel Convenience Stores’ first two Hatch Chicken Co. locations.
In September 2024, Rebel Convenience Stores debuted a new proprietary chicken QSR — Hatch Chicken Co. — in Las Vegas. Now it’s bringing that concept to a site that’s over 1,700 miles away, in Romeoville, Illinois.
The addition is part of a raft of changes Rebel is looking to make at the site, including tweaking the parking lot, adding a drive-thru for the new QSR and installing video gaming machines inside the store, according to a report from the Romeoville Planning and Zoning Commission. The site is expected to begin work in June, with the new Hatch opening in September, according to a Romeoville Instagram post.
When Hatch Chicken first opened last year, Rebel said it was hoping to add another 25 locations in 2025. The first two confirmed sites show the c-store retailer is willing to look anywhere in its footprint for the right spot rather than sticking to one region.
280
The number of Pretzelmaker restaurants globally.
Pretzelmaker, a soft pretzel QSR, made its convenience store debut on Monday at a Valero station in Ardmore, Oklahoma, a company spokesperson confirmed. While the brand has 280 locations globally, this was the first one in a c-store. According to the company’s website, it’s also Pretzelmaker’s first site in Oklahoma.
Pretzelmaker is owned by Fat Brands, a global franchising company that also owns brands like Johnny Rockets and Fatburger. Customers may be more familiar with its restaurants as mall staples.
Fat Brands has a pipeline of 1,000 upcoming locations, so it’ll be worth keeping an eye on the company to see if it has bigger c-store aspirations.
