Dive Brief:
- Golightly & Long, a convenience retailer whose Acee’s banner has locations in Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois, recently unveiled a mini travel center format, according to a press release from Paragon Solutions, which handled the design.
- The 7,300-square-foot store in Fulton, Kentucky, is more than 30% larger than the upper end of the retailer’s previous locations, according to the announcement. The site opened in May and held its grand opening in August.
- Golightly & Long says that food and diesel sales for the site are both running ahead of projections, while beer and fuel are the only categories tracking below pro forma.
Dive Insight:
The mini travel center is geared more toward professional drivers than Acee’s other eight locations, with a dedicated truck entrance, 27 parking spots for big rigs, showers, laundry and a diesel canopy located near the building.
"We didn't have enough land to make it as large as we probably would want for a diesel presentation, but working with Paragon, I think the layout worked out as efficiently as it can," Nathan Long, president of Golightly & Long, said in the announcement.
The store features an open sales floor and three foodservice concepts: a Quiznos franchise, the proprietary AC’s Chicken Fingers and third-party program Crazy Italian Pizza. Customers can order at any of the three front registers or at self-ordering kiosks in the food area, according to the release.
Paragon developed the AC's brand to help Acee's foodservice program catch the eyes of interstate travelers, according to the announcement. The Fulton Acee's is the fourth site to offer the foodservice brand.
"On the interstate we want the food to look like a franchise, and it does," Long said. "Combined with the Quiznos, we're already way ahead of our pro forma on food sales. The layout, the seating, and having food menus visible from the cashier line are what's driving that."
Acee’s also underwent a brand refresh, adopting a simplified wordmark encircled by the words “Community Driven.”
The Fulton property, formerly home to a Holiday Inn, sits along Purchase Parkway, which is being converted to Interstate 69. While most of the store’s current customers are from the surrounding area, Acee’s expects that to change as I-69 develops.
While Golightly & Long did not share broader plans for the mini travel center format, its next store, planned for Illinois, is slated to be a smaller version of the concept.
Clarification: This story was updated to note that Crazy Italian Pizza is a third-party foodservice program. It was also updated with information from a spokesperson on the AC’s foodservice brand.
