Dive Brief:
- RaceTrac will hold a grand opening for its first location in North Carolina on Dec. 2, the convenience retailer announced last week.
- The c-store will be located in Monroe, about 25 miles southeast of downtown Charlotte. It’ll feature RaceTrac’s signature food and beverage offerings, such as pizza, chicken tenders, sandwiches, salads and the Swirl World frozen yogurt bar.
- This marks RaceTrac’s fourth new state for its main c-store banner over the past couple years, as the Atlanta-based c-store retailer continues to expand its reach across the Midwest and Southeast.
Dive Insight:
Although RaceTrac has nine stores in North Carolina under its RaceWay banner, its Monroe location will mark the first RaceTrac-branded site to enter the Tarheel State. The 6,000-plus-square-foot store – which RaceTrac previously said would cost between $8 million and $11 million — is now the company’s 10th location in the state, and 28th across the Carolinas, according to its website. It’ll employ about 30 people, according to the announcement.
RaceTrac is one of several popular c-store chains that has targeted North Carolina in recent years, joining the likes of Wawa, Dash In and Nouria, all of which have either built or acquired its first sites in the state. The Dec. 2 opening continues RaceTrac’s expansion into new states, which has also included Indiana, Ohio and South Carolina.
At RaceTrac’s grand opening celebration, it’ll give the first 100 guests a $20 gift card to use at the pump or inside the store.
“We believe the region’s vibrant economy and welcoming communities present a tremendous opportunity for our innovative approach to enhance customer accessibility and service while meeting the growing demand for convenient and quality options for fuel and food,” Trey Spivey, real estate vice president for RaceTrac, said this summer regarding the company’s first store in North Carolina.
Besides its RaceTrac and RaceWay locations, the company also has nine Potbelly sandwich shops in North Carolina, according to the QSR chain’s website. It remains unclear how or if RaceTrac will integrate Potbelly, which it acquired earlier this year, into its convenience stores.
