This retailer’s natural growth progression and organic ingenuity has it well suited to compete in the New York state marketplace.
By David Bennett, Senior Editor
Not every convenience store operates with a full vision for the future. Some in the industry seem to function in the dark for the most part, blindly trying new innovations until one resonates with their customer base.
Crosby’s convenience store chain, based in Lockport, N.Y., isn’t afraid to innovate as well. However, concepts and new programs are tried and tested at Crosby’s before they’re rolled out extensively. That steady approach has saved the company many missteps in the last decade, while garnering a loyal following in the Buffalo/Niagara-area communities in which the c-store operates.
Reid Stores Inc., a division of The Reid Group, bought the Crosby’s chain in 2004 and now operates 49 locations throughout western New York and northwest Pennsylvania. The group of companies also includes Reid Petroleum Corp., an independent, full-service marketer of motor fuels.
The company’s inventiveness has taken many forms. From a revamped foodservice strategy to new store designs, to solar panels at select locations, Crosby’s is lighting its own path toward business prosperity.
SHINING A LIGHT ON FOOD
For the last few years, Crosby’s has been incrementally expanding its food offerings, which include more robust entrees and healthier grab-and-go selections.
However, the c-store has taken a giant step in reinvigorating its foodservice program, starting with a new-to-industry location in the city of Amherst, N.Y. The store opened in January 2015 after the company had razed an existing store and started fresh. Much of the building’s décor was built to punctuate the company’s objective to expand its foodservice offerings.
The retailer’s proprietary, full foodservice program, known as the Corner Café, is featured in the majority of Crosby’s locations, where the menu offers made-to-order subs, breakfast items, family-sized calzones and a new coffee offering.
Crosby’s features an expansive take-out menu as part of the Corner Café Pizzeria. The pizzeria offers fresh-baked pizza, made with Crosby’s own 100% whole milk mozzarella, served by the slice or whole.
Crosby’s is a franchisee partner with Tim Horton’s and Subway at some of its locations, but the company intends to expand its in-house foodservice program, seen through the space of a drive-through.
“It’s our first proprietary drive-through,” said Doug Galli, vice president and general manager of Reid Stores, referring to the new Amherst location. “We’ve expanded what we offer there, because we had the opportunity to try different melts and panini. It will probably be an experimental lab for us because we have the space and the equipment to do it,” Galli said.
In addition, the 3,800-square-foot building affords the c-store the necessary room for additional customer-service options Crosby’s doesn’t enjoy at some other store locations.
However, depending on the footprint of the physical site, the convenience chain wants to capitalize and expand upon the Amherst model, going forward, said Galli, who was recently elected 2015-16 chairman of the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS). Galli has been on the NYACS board of directors for three years, heading its education committee. He succeeds Case Marshall, vice president of Pit Stop Convenience Stores.
Both future new and legacy sites, which are ripe for remodeling, will get a similar retail treatment as the Amherst location, including a large beer cave—the company’s first—and an expanded space for dining that features a flat-screen television for customer viewing and a gas fireplace for ambiance.
“If I had my druthers, the 3,800-4,200-square-foot model would be what we use,” Galli said. “If we build a new store, we’re going to try to have a drive-through. I can say that confidently.”
Galli said that area competitors with good foodservice programs are growing in number, so Crosby’s has no intention in giving ground.
“We compete with Sheetz and Nice N Easy; Jimmy Johns is coming into our market,” he said.
SOLAR-POWERED
Though foodservice has been a top priority, Crosby’s has been also been crafting a new mission strategy to improve the overall operational efficiency at its 49 locations. That mission has taken unique and inventive forms.
In September 2013, a Crosby’s location was outfitted with a 200-panel, 52-kilowatt ground-mounted system at Crosby’s Lake Avenue location in Lockport. This system is tied to the local electric grid and offsets roughly 20% of the property’s total energy usage.
Since then, the c-store has installed a second solar-powered system with a 110 panel, 29-kilowatt solar energy unit in the same city of Amherst—a location separate from its pilot store. With 66 panels on the gas pump canopy and another 44 on the store’s roof, the green initiative has reduced the store’s energy consumption by 15%—about 50 days of free electricity annually, not to mention reducing the company’s carbon footprint.
Having completed energy efficiency measures and green energy production projects with success—Crosby’s was the first company in western New York to be awarded the Small Business Green Initiative (SBGI) certification—the company embarked on a path to identify more areas of its operation to improve, to include installing LED lighting at its locations .
Working with energy specialists, the c-store discovered that in come cases thermostats were located too close to their kitchens were triggering premature activation of air-conditioning.
The SBGI certification is instituted by Sustainable Earth Solutions, a Buffalo-based B-Corp. Crosby’s goal was to control its energy consumption. In doing so, the c-store realized better operational performance at various stores.
Not finished with harnessing the sun’s rays, The Reid Group recently adorned the roof of its headquarters building in Lockport with solar panels, part of a $1.35 million expansion.
“Believe it or not, Buffalo gets a fair amount of sun,” Galli said “And, we figured that over a short period of time it would generate a positive cash flow.”