“Gas is always at least 30 cents cheaper than Blakely. Great and friendly staff. Gas pumps are well lit at night. Decent prices. Great location and easy to find. Always clean.”
“Nice little store. I've been a regular for almost 8 years. It's the only pay at the pump station for 15 miles that doesn't make you smell like a chicken fryer after walking out.”
“Columbia Food Store is the same as the Valero. It is one store with two names. I shop at Columbia Food Store on a regular basis. The outside of the building and fuel pumps have new paint and store signs. A variety of items are available for purchase including normal staples such as soda's, chips, candy, cigarettes and fuel. The fuel pumps do operate slowly when dispensing fuel. Cooked food items are available until after lunch hours or sold out. Pizza is available for ordering until 8 pm. There are several booths inside available for dining-in or waiting. On the right side of the building, there is a separate entrance with laundry facilities (washer and dryers) for public use. It appears the laundry facilities are operated by the same store owner. I have seen the owner unlocking and locking the laundry facilities while doing the same for the store daily. However, I have used the laundry facilities. The washers and dryers are extremely old and worn. I have encountered issues with the washers and dryers. I was told the owner of the store wasn't involved in maintenance and/or refunding of money put in any of the washers or dryers. This is of questionable practice in my opinion. There is no phone number posted to call when a problem arises involving the laundry facility. The Columbia Food Store does "not" have a bathroom available for the public to use. There is a sign on the main store entrance that reads "Bathroom Out of Order". The bathroom is always out of order. I have questioned the sanitation of not having a bathroom to wash my hands when I am ordering food to consume that is being prepared on site. On that particular occasion, the owner allowed me to go behind the main counter and wash my hands. Another separate occasion resulted in the owner telling me where the key was to the bathroom and allowed me it's use. It was "clean and operable". Nothing appeared to be "Out of Order" except the "availability and use" of the one single bathroom/cleaning closet. The Columbia Food Store, being a "business for the public" should be "required by law" to furnish adequate and usable male and female bathroom facilities. The public should be entitled to such and not deceived by a play on words.”
The Iowa retailer, the third-largest convenience store operator in the country, built its new three-year plan around three priorities: store growth, food and beverage expansion, and kitchen technology upgrades. The company plans to add 120 stores during the current fiscal year. Its previous plan, launched in 2023, delivered more than 500 new stores and earned the company a spot in the S&P 500.
Love's Travel Stops is starting 2025 with ambitious growth plans, adding 20 new stores and updating 50 current locations across the country. The truck stop company will upgrade its stores through its Strategic Remodel Initiative, which started in 2022. This includes the modernization of its recently acquired turnpike location in Stroud, Oklahoma. By 2035, over half of Love's 655 stores will be either new or updated.
Food service giant Sodexo plans to open nearly 100 "Food Hive" locations on campuses nationwide by 2026. The company has already started the process, aiming to launch about 30 new college convenience stores during the current 2024-25 academic year.
7-Eleven is going big on food and "frictionless shopping." The convenience store giant plans to open 500 new "food-forward" locations across the U.S. from 2025 to 2027. The expansion builds on 7-Eleven's "Evolution" store concept, first launched in Dallas in 2019. These larger-format stores feature in-store restaurants, premium products like craft beer and cigars, and an emphasis on fresh, grab-and-go meals.
Amazon has quietly opened a new type of grocery store in downtown Chicago. Called Amazon Grocery, the 3,800-square-foot store is a testing ground for Amazon's latest experiment in brick-and-mortar retail. The first Amazon Grocery location shares a building with a Whole Foods Market, which Amazon purchased in 2017.