Turkey Hill Minit Markets

Last updated
Turkey Hill Minit Markets
Type Private business
Industry Retail (Convenience stores)
Founded1967(56 years ago) (1967) in Lancaster, PA
FounderCharles and Emerson Frey
Headquarters,
Number of locations
267
Area served
Ohio, Pennsylvania
Products Petroleum
Parent EG America
Website www.turkeyhillcstores.com
Map of Turkey Hill Minit Market locations.
red = Pennsylvania stores
orange = "Midwest Division" stores (Indiana & Ohio) Turkey Hill footprint 2010-08.png
Map of Turkey Hill Minit Market locations.
red = Pennsylvania stores
orange = "Midwest Division" stores (Indiana & Ohio)

Turkey Hill Minit Markets is an American chain of convenience stores founded in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1966. As of October 2017, Turkey Hill Minit Markets had over 260 locations across Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. [2] Turkey Hill Minit Markets is owned by EG Group and operated independently from Turkey Hill, a separate Peak Rock Capital-owned brand of iced tea, ice cream and other beverages and frozen desserts. [2]

Contents

History

Turkey Hill convenience store in Strasburg, Pennsylvania Turkey Hill Minit Mart - panoramio.jpg
Turkey Hill convenience store in Strasburg, Pennsylvania

In 1967, Charles and Emerson Frey opened the first Turkey Hill Minit Markets store on Columbia Avenue in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as a way to better market their dairy products. [2] [3]

The stores operated as a separate business [4] - Farmland Industries - with the headquarters in the original store basement. In 1978, they built their second headquarters at 257 Centerville Road in East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This building was demolished and rebuilt as a new location. It opened in March 2023.

On December 19, 1974, the stores won a legal battle overturning the so-called blue laws that prohibited retailers opening on Sunday, and in 1976, they became the first company to offer self-service gasoline in Pennsylvania. [3]

In 1979, Turkey Hill Minit Market purchased 36 Louden Hill stores. In July 1985, Turkey Hill acquired a number of 7-Eleven stores and six Ideal Markets. In Lancaster County, where the chain originated, Turkey Hill Minit Markets were the overwhelming convenience store choice; in some cases, stores were located as close as three blocks apart.

In 1985, Kroger acquired both Turkey Hill Minit Markets and Turkey Hill Dairy, which manufactures various beverages, fruit-flavored drinks and dairy products, including milk and ice cream. [2] Kroger continued to operate both brands as separate, independent entities. [2]

During the 1990s, Turkey Hill and competitors Sheetz and Wawa began overlapping their regions of service. John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil commented on the new situation in sworn testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary in March 2006: [5] "We are seeing healthy new retail competition emerging with brands such as Wawa, Sheetz, and Turkey Hill."

A Turkey Hill store at the intersection of Columbia Ave and Rohrerstown Rd in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This location was formerly an Exxon. Turkeyhillrohrerstown.jpg
A Turkey Hill store at the intersection of Columbia Ave and Rohrerstown Rd in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This location was formerly an Exxon.

In 1998, Turkey Hill opened its 249th store in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. This store was the first of many stores to open with foodservice offerings. Foodservice offerings included fresh hoagies, sandwiches, pizza, and many other hot foods. Many new stores are built with foodservice and car washes. Beginning in 1999, new larger stores were opened with more of an emphasis on selling gasoline. About 200 of the 240 stores in Central Pennsylvania have gas pumps. [6]

In October 2017, Kroger disclosed that it was considering the potential sale of Turkey Hill Minit Markets as well as four other convenience store brands - Kwik Shop, Loaf 'N Jug, Quik Stop, and Tom Thumb. [2] Any potential sale would exclude Turkey Hill Dairy, which is operated separately from the convenience store chain. [2]

In early February 2018, Kroger announced it had reached an agreement to sell Turkey Hill Minit Markets and its entire convenience-store portfolio to EG Group, forming the basis of EG America. [7] The sale was finalized on April 20, 2018. [8] The following year, EG America purchased Columbus, Ohio-based Certified Oil, leading to Turkey Hill's Columbus area locations to be marketed together with Certified. EG America's purchase of Cumberland Farms shortly afterwards allowed Turkey Hill and all of EG America to sell Cumberland Farms-branded coffee products.

On January 27, 2020, Burger King opened a location inside a Turkey Hill store in Cumru Township, Pennsylvania. This marks the beginning of a plan by EG Group to add fast food franchises at several Turkey Hill locations in order to update food service offerings, including Sbarro at its Midwestern locations. [9]

Branding changes

In 2004, the stores adopted the current signage, featuring a stylized map of the contiguous United States. EG America's Kwik Shop, Loaf 'N Jug, Quik Stop, and Tom Thumb brands all use the same logo and font, which originated with Kroger.

In The Office Season 5 episode "Weight Loss," a Turkey Hill advertisement is seen in the background when Jim proposes to Pam. This is one of many Easter eggs throughout the show that serve to remind viewers that The Office is set in Pennsylvania.

A Turkey Hill market is featured in the 2021 novel, "Black-Haired Boy" where a character, Kody Kurtz, works as a cashier at a fictional location in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

Related Research Articles

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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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kroger</span> American retail company

The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States.

Schnucks is a supermarket chain. Based in the St. Louis area, the company was founded in 1939 with the opening of a 1,000-square-foot (93 m2) store in north St. Louis and currently operates over 100 stores in four states throughout the Midwest. Schnucks also ran stores under the Logli Supermarkets and Hilander Foods banners. Schnucks is one of the largest privately-held supermarket chains in the United States and dominates the St. Louis metro grocery market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wawa (company)</span> Convenience store chain in the United States

Wawa, Inc. is an American chain of convenience stores and gas stations located along the East Coast of the United States, operating in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Florida. The company's corporate headquarters is located in the Wawa area of Chester Heights, Pennsylvania in Greater Philadelphia. As of 2008, Wawa was the largest convenience store chain in Greater Philadelphia, and it is also the third-largest food retailer in Greater Philadelphia, after Acme Markets and ShopRite.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkey Hill (company)</span> American based food and beverage company

Turkey Hill Dairy, or simply known as Turkey Hill, is an American brand of iced tea, ice cream and other beverages and frozen desserts distributed throughout the United States and internationally. The company, which is headquartered in Conestoga, Pennsylvania, was a subsidiary of Kroger from 1985 until it was sold to private equity firm Peak Rock Capital in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwik Trip</span> Midwestern convenience store and gas station chain

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Farms</span> American chain of convenience stores

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Turkey Hill may refer to:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">EG Group</span> British retail group

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References

  1. "Home".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mekeel, Tim (2017-10-11). "Kroger mulls sale of Turkey Hill Minit Markets and its other convenience store chains". LNP . Retrieved 2017-10-22.
  3. 1 2 Minit Market timeline Archived March 24, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Kroger buys Turkey Hill Dairy and Farmland Industries
  5. John Hofmeister testimony Archived August 14, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  6. Minit Market Company History Archived March 13, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Kroger to sell Turkey Hill Minit Markets, 4 other chains, to English firm for $2.15B". Lancaster Online. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  8. "Kroger wraps up sale of convenience store business". Supermarket News. 2018-04-20. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
  9. Kulp, Andrew (January 31, 2020). "Taking aim at competition, Turkey Hill partners with fast food chains". Reading Eagle. Retrieved March 13, 2020.