Dive Brief:
- Urban Value Corner Store has opened its first location designed for large single-family-home communities, the company announced this week.
- The 1,400-square-foot c-store is located in Wildflower Ranch, a master-planned community of over 3,000 homes in Justin, Texas. Its product mix features “home-focused essentials,” such as pantry staples and home supplies, as well as grab-and-go snacks and locally sourced goods, according to the announcement.
- The site marks a turn in strategy for Urban Value, which up until this point has mainly opened c-stores on the ground floor of apartment complexes.
Dive Insight:
Urban Value has opened about a dozen stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since debuting in 2019. Although its strategy differs from other retailers, Urban Value’s latest initiative underscores the industry’s appetite for experimenting with unique formats and store designs.
The store in Justin had been in the works since early last year, founder and CEO Steve McKinley said in the announcement, adding that the product selection aims to focus on “what homeowners will need to improve their living experiences.”
"Now that the amenity center has been completed, our store will be one of the first amenities that existing and prospective residents will see upon entering this beautiful new community,” McKinley said.
This isn’t the first time Urban Value has experimented with a new format. In early 2024, the company revealed plans to build a set of autonomous convenience stores through a partnership with retail technology firm Juxta. Urban Value is also looking to expand outside of Texas, and has been eyeing its first site in North Carolina for the past few years.
