A matter of convenience

For many today, it might be hard to remember a world without convenience stores, which introduced people to Icees and Slurpees, all-day breakfast sandwiches and roller-grill dogs coupled with self-service fueling.

Today, the modern Colorado convenience store offers it all, even full-strength beer, after the law changed in 2023. They also accept food stamps. And there are hundreds of convenience stores dotting the landscape.

As Northern Colorado grows — and with Greeley growing west — convenience stores are a part of many development plans. Practically every new development in Greeley’s western side has offered a convenience store on a prime corner. Some are developing as infill projects, in which older buildings are razed to be replaced by a convenience store and fueling station. But in the region as a whole, convenience stores are dotting the landscape from Westminster north to Fort Collins, with seven planned stores in Greeley alone.

Population is the key indicator in store growth

But that’s not likely due to anything other than a growing population, said Jeff Lenard, vice president of Strategic Industry Initiatives for the National Association of Convenience Stores. He noted that in Colorado, the number of convenience stores has been growing, having hit a peak of 1,853 stores in 2018 to the highest number this year at 1,916 stores.

“Colorado has also grown in population over that time, and that’s usually the biggest predictor of a store count increase,” Lenard said in an email response to questions. “Most retailers today are building stores — or trying to build stores — based on where they see the population in an area growing over the next three to five years.”

While housing affordability has become a big issue pushing the population out of Denver, Greeley has been seen as one of the most-affordable places to live when compared with the Denver area and other parts of Northern Colorado. Greeley’s population is at about 110,000 now. With the number of single-family (5,000) and multifamily (10,000) units in the entitlement process now, that could add another 30,000 residents to the area within a couple of years.

While Greeley’s latest convenience store, QuikTrip, is set to open on Oct. 24 at its location on 80th Avenue and U.S. 34 Business route, more are planned.

• A Circle K is slated to anchor the Lake Bluff development off 101st Avenue and 10^th Street; one opened last year at 225 22nd St., In Greeley.
• A convenience store is preliminarily planned for Two Rivers Market place at 83rd Avenue and 12th St.
• A 7-Eleven is on the books to be located at 71st Avenue and U.S. 34 Bypass in the Westgate Subdivision; another one is slated to be built at the former Red Lobster Restaurant, 2885 S. 23rd Ave. A 7-Eleven is under review to be located at Centerra; and another is under review in Fort Collins at Prospect Road and Interstate 25.
• A convenience store also is preliminarily planned in the West Greeley Commons Development at 77th Avenue and 10th Street.
• Murphy USA has planned to build a store on a 1-acre site at 26th Avenue and 10th Street, and another is planned in the Walmart parking lot off 23rd Avenue in place of the former Golden Corral restaurant.
• Several QuikTrip stores are planned throughout northern Colorado. According to QuikTrip spokesperson Aisha Jefferson, QuikTrip has eight stores under construction in Colorado, and the company plans to “open eight to ten stores annually as part of our strategic expansion in Colorado.”
• Maverik recently bought out Kum & Go, renaming three stores in Greeley, and built a new store this year at 450 Crossroads Blvd., in Windsor. Another new store is scheduled in Westminster.
• Bucc-ee’s built a massive store and fuel center in Johnstown at Interstate 25 and Colorado Highway 60, opening in the spring of 2024.

According to FoodonDemand.com, convenience stores are “having a moment.”

“In 2023, foodservice sales accounted for 27 percent of the industry’s in-store sales, up 1.3 percent from the year before, for an estimate of $88 billion, according to data from the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS). And when the NACS computed for margins, the results were eye-popping: foodservice accounted for 37.3 percent of total store profits,” the website stated.

And the trend line may get even more vertical. Ninety-three percent of consumers have reported trying a made-to-order food item from a C-Store, up from 76% in 2022, according to a Convenience Store Trends Report.

Proposition 125’s influence

One would think the change in Colorado law in 2023 that allowed full-strength beer sales in convenience and grocery stores would have turned up the volume on convenience stores in Colorado. While it likely is not the sole factor for convenience store growth, it certainly doesn’t hurt, Lenard said.

“Beer sales are 6.9% of instore sales at a convenience store, which doesn’t sound like much but it’s all the ways stores sell convenience,” Lenard said. “Most retailers would love to have all the options available at their disposable, so selling full-strength beer is a big deal. But whether that’s also a reason for the rise in store count, I don’t know. When your convenience is tied into selling full-strength beer and you’re able to do it, it’s a possibility.”

Building convenience stores is not a quick process, he said. In fact, for many it’s a multi-year process from buying the land to permitting to construction and certificates of occupancy. New store locations are based primarily on population projections.

Mat Dinsmore, managing partner of Wilbur’s Total Beverage in Fort Collins and president of the Colorado Independent Liquor Stores United, said selling full-strength beer in convenience stores is turning out to be much more of a problem for owners.

“More is getting stolen than actually purchased,” Dinsmore said. “When a kid comes into a liquor store it sets off alarms. 7-Eleven spends millions trying to get them in to buy chips and Slurpees. And there’s only one staff member there to monitor them.

“We’ve watched a couple of neighborhood Walmarts pulling out beer and wine because shoplifting is such a problem. This is what we told people would happen.”

Here and there, everywhere

Convenience stores are typically located in growing areas, on busy streets where they can capture plenty of traffic, but they also are typically in a right-in, right-out situation. That’s why there are so many convenience stores in close proximity to each other. A prime example is the Maverik on the north side of Crossroads Boulevard in Loveland right across the street from a Loaf N Jug on the south side of Crossroads Boulevard.

“Oftentimes you wonder why are they building store in middle of nowhere? That’s because three years from now it’s going to look different. And you could be located directly across street and not think of each other as competition. People don’t like left-hand turns,” Lenard said.

You’ll find a 7-Eleven store just a half mile away from Thompson Ranch Convenience store, both on the south side of U.S. 34 in Loveland.

In Broomfield, a planned QuikTrip on Colo. Highway 7 has drawn some criticism. On Broomfield’s public engagement site, a resident wrote: “Thank goodness. Another gas station. Just what we need on Highway 7. At least no one will run out of gas with the 4 gas stations within a mile of each other.”

The new QuikTrip in west Greeley may soon have some nearby competition. The Two Rivers Marketplace a few hundred feet to the west could soon have a convenience store facing U.S. 34 Business. Developer John Stephens said he is keen on a convenience store and a small grocery in his marketplace.

“We see Two Rivers Marketplace at the Gateway to West Greeley and as residential developments continue to expand around us, we see there will be a strong need for additional convenience stores and fueling stations,” Stephens said in an email response to questions. “With the potential of a medium sized grocer, hotel and brew pubs/restaurants at Two Rivers Marketplace, customers will find it desirable and convenient to have these services here.”

He said “several national brand stores” have shown interest in locating in the commercial development off 83rd Avenue and U.S. 34 Business. “We did have that corner lot at 12th and 83rd identified as a convenience store. It’s probably more likely that a convenience store will end up closer to Hwy 34 business.”

Some say let the free market drive the development. Larry Buckendorf, president /CEO of Journey Homes, which is developing the Union Colony Subdivision on the northwest corner of 83rd Avenue and U.S. 34 Business in Greeley, said he wouldn’t turn away a convenience store, but he also will not go out of his way to get one for the commercial portion of his site.

“I’m a free market proponent. If the buyer and user thought they could be productive and profitable, when we get our marketing now, we’d be OK with it. We wouldn’t create a scenario where no matter what we’re going to put a convenience store there. We’d let the market determine if it comes out.”

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