{"id":248261,"date":"2026-05-29T22:27:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T22:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/248261\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T22:27:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T22:27:50","slug":"convenience-stores-become-destinations-of-their-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/248261\/","title":{"rendered":"Convenience stores become destinations of their own"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mitsuki Japanese Market<\/a> sits on a busy commercial strip in Brooklyn, with a shiny Hello Kitty statue greeting customers at the door. It\u2019s a small shop, just a few aisles wide, stocked with colorful crinkly packages of seaweed flavored chips and matcha Kit Kats.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust so you know, I only have five minutes,\u201d said Austin Johnson, a customer who is hunched over a high top near the front of the store. \u201cI\u2019m stuffing my face with an onigiri before work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Onigiri, a rice ball often filled with meat or fish, is a Japanese convenience store staple. The one Johnson\u2019s eating has eel and a savory soy sauce, priced at $3.99.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a staple,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very cheap and it\u2019s filling and I have a long shift ahead of me so it\u2019s good energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

From 7-Eleven to Wawa to Royal Farms, convenience stores have regional, devoted followings. And they\u2019re capturing a growing share of retail. According to the National Association of Convenience Stores, convenience stores account for more than a third of in-person retail stores<\/a> in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love convenience stores,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cMe and my partner are kind of like aficionados when it comes to trying weird snacks and stuff or a new Reese\u2019s flavor or a new soda that\u2019s strange or something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Most<\/p>\n

Most of Mitsuki Japanese Market’s sales come from prepare foods.<\/p>\n

Kristin Schwab\/Marketplace<\/p>\n

Increasingly, convenience stores are becoming destinations instead of pitstops on the way to somewhere else. At Casey\u2019s<\/a>, a Midwest chain with nearly 3,000 stores, the majority of customers don\u2019t even buy gas.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo-thirds of our profitability comes from inside of the store,\u201d said Chief Merchandising Officer Tom Brennan. \u201cThat allows us to actually be very competitive when it comes to how we price retail fuel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most convenience stores only make a few cents a gallon on gas \u2014 sometimes even less when prices are high.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich again is why we\u2019re so focused on other areas of the business and that inside the store offer and that food offer because we know there\u2019s much more stability inside of that,\u201d said Brennan. Casey\u2019s is the fifth-largest pizza chain in the country. <\/p>\n

What even qualifies as a convenience store these days? The definition depends on where you are and who you ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre these grocery stores that have gas or are they gas stations that have food?\u201d said Constance Bailey<\/a>, co-editor of \u201cGet It While It\u2019s Hot: Gas Station, Roadside, and Convenience Cuisine in the U.S. South.\u201d \u201cIn some parts of the South, you know, people think of these more as restaurants,\u201d said Bailey. <\/p>\n

Convenience stores have become community gathering spots, especially in rural towns. For the book, Bailey\u2019s team surveyed southerners about where they\u2019re most likely to eat a hot meal.<\/p>\n

\u201cBehind churches, like an actual church meal or a church function, gas station was the second most popular answer,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Convenience stores are also hubs for international cuisine. Nearly half of are owned by immigrants<\/a>, according to the nonprofit Immigration Research Initiative. There\u2019s a lot of variety: Indian curry, Mexican street tacos and southern staples like fried chicken. <\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely got to gratuitously engage in a lot of fried food, right?\u201d laughed Bailey. <\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just about the food. Convenience stores have become so ironically cool that early aughts band The All-American Rejects recently performed a popup concert<\/a> at a Sheetz<\/a> store in Pittsburgh. The internet has even coined the aesthetic \u201cgas station-core,\u201d<\/a> fashion featuring trucker hats and visor-like sunglasses in chrome colors.<\/p>\n

A hot item at Mitsuki Japanese Market is blind boxes, each with a mystery toy that\u2019s revealed after opening the box.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we first opened the store [people] said, \u2018What\u2019s that store?\u2019\u201d said Cao. \u201cThey\u2019re looking for new products. People love to do that because life needs something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

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