A convenience store, bodega, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as tea, coffee, groceries, fruits, vegetables, snacks, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery tickets, over-the-counter drugs, toiletries, newspapers and magazines. In some jurisdictions, convenience stores are licensed to sell alcoholic drinks, although many jurisdictions limit such beverages to those with relatively low alcohol content, like beer and wine. The stores may also offer money order and wire transfer services, along with the use of a fax machine or photocopier for a small per-copy cost. Some also sell tickets or recharge smart cards, e.g. OPUS cards in Montreal or include a small deli. They differ from general stores and village shops in that they are not in a rural location and are used as a convenient supplement to larger stores.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., or simply Couche-Tard, is a Canadian multinational operator of convenience stores. The company has 14,302 stores across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Japan, China, and Indonesia. The company operates its corporate stores mainly under the Couche-Tard, Circle K, and On the Run brands but also under the affiliated brands Mac's Convenience Stores, go!, 7-jours, Dairy/Daisy Mart, Becker's and Winks.
Circle K Stores, Inc. is a chain of convenience stores that is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and owned by Alimentation Couche-Tard, Inc., based in Laval, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1951 in El Paso, Texas, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1990 and went through several owners, before being acquired by Alimentation Couche-Tard in 2003. As of February 2020, Circle K has 9,799 stores in North America, 2,697 stores in Europe, and an additional 2,380 stores operating under franchise agreements worldwide.
ampm is a convenience store chain with branches located in several U.S. states, including Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and in several countries such as Costa Rica and Brazil. The brand pulled out of the Eastern United States in 2012, but returned a decade later.
Casey's Retail Company is a chain of convenience stores in the Midwestern and Southern United States. The company is headquartered in Ankeny, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines. As of October 1, 2023, Casey's had 2,500 stores in 16 states. Following 7-Eleven's purchase of Speedway, Casey's is the 3rd largest convenience store chain in the United States and the largest that is wholly American-owned. It is one of two Iowa-based Fortune 500 companies. Casey's is famous for their pizza including a breakfast pizza and a taco pizza resulting in Casey's being the fifth largest pizza chain in the U.S.
Lawson, Inc. is a convenience store franchise chain in Japan. The store originated in the United States in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, but exists today as a Japanese company based in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company has its headquarters in East Tower of Gate City Ohsaki in Ōsaki, Shinagawa, Tokyo.
The FamilyMart Company, Ltd. is a Japanese convenience store franchise chain. It is Japan's second largest convenience store chain, behind Seven-Eleven Japan. There are now 24,574 stores worldwide in Japan, Taiwan, China, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Its headquarters is on the 17th floor of the Sunshine 60 building in Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo. There were some stores in Japan with the name Circle K Sunkus under the operation of FamilyMart.
Plaid Pantry is a chain of privately owned convenience stores based in Beaverton, Oregon, United States. Of 106 locations, one is in the Seattle, Washington area, eight are near Salem, and the remainder are in the Portland metropolitan area.
SpartanNash is an American food distributor and grocery store retailer headquartered in Byron Center, Michigan. The company's core businesses include distributing food to independent grocers, military commissaries, and corporate-owned retail stores in 44 states, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. SpartanNash operates 142 corporate-owned retail stores under a number of brands located in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio, many of which were local grocery chains acquired by SpartanNash. In terms of revenue, it is the largest food distributor serving military commissaries and exchanges in the United States. It is known for its Our Family line of products and formerly the "Spartan" line of products.
Blimpie International, Inc., doing business as Blimpie, is an American submarine sandwich chain based in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was founded in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1964, by three friends, and has since endured three ownership changes.
The Pantry, Inc. was a publicly traded convenience store chain based in Cary, North Carolina that operated Kangaroo Express stores. The Pantry was founded in 1967 by Sam Wornom and Truby Proctor, Jr. in Sanford, North Carolina The company has been publicly traded since June 1999 and owned by investors since 1987, when then investor Montrose Capital purchased controlling shares from Wornom and Proctor. Recent CEOs have included the former chairman of the board and interim CEO Edwin J. Holman, who took over after Terrance M. Marks, the former president and CEO, resigned in December 2011. Dennis Hatchell was the CEO of the company as of 2012.
Dari Mart is a chain of convenience stores located in the U.S. state of Oregon. Dari Mart has 44 stores located exclusively within the Willamette Valley of Oregon, from Albany to Cottage Grove. It is most notable as a supplier of milk, ice cream, and other dairy products from Lochmead Farms, one of the largest independent dairy farms in the Pacific Northwest. Most store locations are in the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area in Lane County, Oregon, while several stores are located in rural communities in Lane, Linn and Benton Counties. Lochmead Farms sells 1.5 million US gallons (5,700,000 L) of milk and 500,000 US gallons (1,900,000 L) of ice cream a year through the chain of stores, and the joint store-farm operation employs more than 450 people. The company has started selling dairy products internationally as well.
Jr. Food Stores is a chain of convenience stores operating in south central Kentucky and northern Middle Tennessee, with approximately 41 retail locations. It is owned by Houchens Industries.
McLane is an American wholesale supply chain services company which distributes grocery and non-food to convenience stores, discount retailers, wholesale clubs, drug stores, military bases, quick service restaurants, and casual dining restaurants throughout the United States. It is also a wholesale distributor of distilled spirits, wine, and beer in some US states. McLane is organised in three segments: grocery distribution, serving about 49,000 retail locations, foodservice distribution, catering to about 36,500 chain restaurants, and beverage distribution, servicing about 24,900 retail locations in the Southeastern US and Colorado.
Stripes Stores is a chain of more than 700 convenience stores in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The locations are former Circle K and Town & Country Food Stores. Other convenience store brands they operate under include IceBox and Quick Stuff. It is one of the largest non-refining operators of convenience stores in the United States.
Jr. Food Mart is a chain of convenience stores found throughout the southern United States.
Tops is a grocery chain in Thailand. Co-founded by the then-parent of U.S.-based Tops Markets LLC, the chain is operated under the name Tops Supermarket in Thailand by Central Food Retail, a subsidiary of Central Retail Corporation. In addition to Tops Supermarket, some branches are called Tops Superstore, Tops Market, Tops Market Food & Wine, Tops Daily and Central Food Hall. It is the largest supermarket chain in Thailand and operates 120 stores nationwide.
Famima!! was a chain of small upscale convenience stores owned by FamilyMart stores of Japan. Founded on September 17, 2004, the stores brought the Japanese model of premium convenience stores targeting the middle- and upper-level income group of 21 – 41 years of age to the United States. Famima stores feature upscale design and premium foods, packaging deli-style "lunch boxes", international and American goods popular in the United States.
Minit Mart LLC is a chain of convenience stores operating in South Central and Western Kentucky, northern Middle Tennessee, eastern Wisconsin, Kansas City, Northeast Illinois, and Northeast Ohio. Its corporate offices are located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the chain consists of 231 locations scattered around the United States.
