Foxtrot
Small Operator Spotlight:
Foxtrot co-founders Mike LaVitola and Taylor Bloom conceived the idea for Foxtrot nearly a decade ago while living in Austin, Texas. Their idea was to redefine convenience by marrying the modern convenience store and café with the best of neighborhood retail and e-commerce technology.
Today, Foxtrot is this idea come to life. The chain of 27 stores across Chicago, Washington, D.C., Dallas and Austin serves as a fun neighborhood destination where locals and visitors alike can gather and celebrate local makers. The retailer’s offering ranges from a signature all-day café experience to local craft beers and fine wines selected by an in-house sommelier to everyday essentials. All of its offerings are available to enjoy in-store, for pickup, or for on-demand delivery through the brand’s proprietary app.
On June 5, Foxtrot opened its largest location to date. Situated in Austin and boasting 6,000 square feet, the new flagship store was once two buildings, one being an auto repair shop and the other a grocer. Both are now bridged together, pulling in different elements of each to bring an all-day café, market and a courtyard patio to the Bouldin Creek neighborhood.
In the coming weeks, Foxtrot will add its third Austin location at the base of Austin City Hall. By the end of this year, the retailer plans to open 10 more stores, which are already in various stages of the pipeline in existing markets. The team
is also scouting for new markets.
What kind of market is ideal for a Foxtrot store? “It can be found all over the country in vibrant neighborhoods — anywhere people want next-generation convenience and a café and coffee shop where they can meet up with other people,” said CEO Liz Williams. “And that’s not just on Main and Main. We
already have suburban locations in Dallas, where most people drive instead
of walk, and the sites are doing very well.”
Fuel City
Small Operator Spotlight:
Fuel City, a family-owned and -operated chain of eight convenience stores throughout Texas, has been on a mission since 1995: to create a fun place in which to have positive experiences with expansive offerings and services. Its slogan, “Where Dreams Come True,” is a sort of whimsical embodiment of how the company hopes its business impacts people.
On Dec. 30, 2022, the small operator debuted the next iteration of Fuel City in the city of Wylie, Texas. The new concept incorporates a more transitional take on the exterior architecture and interior, while maintaining the retailer’s “Texas urban ranch” aesthetic.
To create a sense of hospitality and a welcoming environment, the new open, airy
store design contrasts industrial exposed ceilings with residential finishes like wide-plank white shiplap. The design features retro pops of color and graphics throughout the signage and interior finishes to deliver the playful touches guests expect to find at
a Fuel City store.
The 10,000-square-foot Wylie store also features the company’s flagship, award-winning street taco program and showcases Fuel City’s daquiri program, as well as a new growler bar concept, among other food and beverage offerings. A 24-hour drive-thru is available.
Looking ahead, the company anticipates opening more Fuel City convenience stores featuring the same concept and design. The retailer seeks to learn and refine every store from each iteration along the way.
Fuel City is growth-oriented and actively searching for properties, but remains focused on developing only the best sites, seeking quality over quantity. For now, Fuel City plans to buildout across the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, metroplex and surrounding areas.
"We like to think of ourselves as a ‘Destination Station,’ and I think that may be a new category,” Fuel City CEO Joseph Bickham said.
Choice Market
Small Operator Spotlight:
Choice Market has undergone several tweaks since its flagship convenience store opened
in October 2017 in the heart of downtown Denver. Choice (its banner name) debuted as a one-stop shop concept that combines the speed of a convenience store with the product selection of a grocery store. The retailer focuses on three key differentiators: fresh, local
and on-demand.
In less than a decade, Choice has grown into a chain of five convenience stores serving Denver’s metro area and continues to redefine the convenience store model.
In 2021, Choice debuted one of the world’s largest contactless and frictionless markets with the opening of a 5,000-square-foot store that features the brand’s revolutionary Choice: NOW shopping experience. Located at 939 Bannock St. in Denver, the frictionless experience allows guests to scan the Choice mobile app upon entry, pick up their groceries and freshly prepared meals, and then leave the market without any traditional checkout. Guests receive a receipt directly to their mobile devices moments after they exit the store.
Then, in October 2022, Choice introduced a new format, Choice Mini-Mart, at The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Developed in partnership with St. Louis-based Health Hospitality Partners, the model is designed specifically for nontraditional retail spaces and features the Choice: NOW frictionless experience. Earlier this year, the small operator announced plans to rapidly scale the mini-mart format through strategic partnerships with hospitals, apartment developers, venues, airports, electric vehicle charging stations and college campuses.
Despite its focus on digital, Choice Market has big plans to grow its physical retail space. A five-year business plan calls for roughly 30 Choice stores to be in operation across three to four markets. To date, the company has raised nearly $10 million in funding.
“To us, as an omnichannel player, brick and mortar is the hub. It maximizes our revenue per square foot and creates that brand affinity,” said Choice Market founder and CEO Mike Fogarty. “I’m a huge proponent of physical retail space, particularly in convenience, because it’s all about proximity.”
Hangry Planet
Small Operator Spotlight:
Hangry Planet, the brainchild of actor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Bobak Bakhtiari, seeks to redefine the traditional junk food landscape perpetrated by traditional convenience stores with the first-ever fully plant-based c-store.
Inspired to launch Hangry Planet after coming across an undercover investigation into organic dairy farms by Animal Recovery Mission, Bakhtiari said the mission of Hangry Planet is to “transform the compulsive junk food milieu of traditional c-stores into healthy havens of grab-and-go meal yumminess.”
To that end, Hangry Planet offers a carefully curated selection of vegan and plant-based grab-and-go meal options, beverages, sustainable and satiable desserts, and craveable snacks. Each product is vetted to assure that every item in the store is sustainable, animal product free, and cruelty free. In total, the single store carries roughly 3,500 SKUs.
Located at the Tanforan Shell station at 1199 El Camino Real in San Bruno, Calif., Hangry Planet boasts nearly 1,500 square feet and opened to the public in late spring 2022. The San Francisco Bay Area was the ideal location to debut the concept because of the growing momentum and affinity toward plant-based cuisine in the area, and the accessibility of West Coast vendors that offer ample plant-based snacks and meals that are flavorsome.
Since opening, the vegan community has zeroed in on Hangry Planet, making it a destination. With the concept’s growing popularity, Bakhtiari plans to open more locations. He has been in talks to introduce a store to the Ann Arbor, Mich., area.
“While it appears the c-store milieu is a great pipeline for expansion as health takes a greater priority, there’s also talks about opening a larger grocery store that fuels planet- and animal-friendly choices on a grander scale,” he added.
Click on the picture to learn how each small operator sets itself apart
Foxtrot
Fuel City
Choice Market
Hangry Planet
