Four of the chain’s nearly 200 stores remain closed due to the ongoing manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers. Separately, 7-Eleven tells CSD that despite media reports one of its stores was not robbed by the suspects early this morning.
By John Lofstock, Editor
As the nation continues to mourn the senseless terrorist attack on the city of Boston, Tedeschi Food Shops is stepping up to support The One Fund Boston to help the people most affected by the tragic events that occurred in Boston on April 15.
Tedeschi told Convenience Store Decisions earlier today that the ongoing manhunt for suspected bombers brothers Tamerlan Tsarnaev (killed in an overnight shootout with police) and Dzhokar Tsarnaev is “crazy and seems to be getting crazier.”
Tedeschi Food Shops, which is Convenience Store Decisions reigning Chain of the Year, has one store that was about 450 feet from the first blast and less than 100 feet from the second. “Currently, we have four stores that are closed as the result of the ongoing manhunt,” Tedeschi said.
In addition to the stores and employees that were perilously close to the blasts, Joe Hamza, the chain’s vice president of sales and marketing, was running the marathon and about a half-mile away when the first bomb detonated.
“My son and some friends were sitting in the stands directly across the street from where the first explosion occurred but fortunately everybody escaped unharmed,” Hamza said.
The story took another twist early this morning affecting a second convenience store chain when the terror suspects robbed a Shell station and hijacked a car after hurling explosives at pursuers and killing Massachusetts Institute of Technology police Officer Sean Collier.
Previous reports had said the brothers robbed a 7-Eleven store–a claim denied by 7-Eleven spokesperson Margaret Chabris this afternoon. “The photo of the suspect we saw appears to have been in a Shell g-store,” Chabris said. “We have looked at our tapes and the suspect was not in our store, nor were law enforcement officials at our store about the bombing suspect.”
Tedeschi Food Shops has long been a proud supporter of a variety of educational and extracurricular programs at schools across New England, including youth and high school sports teams, drama clubs, and booster clubs. The chain engages in community outreach programs like the YMCA, Boys & Girls Club, and D.A.R.E., and it provides support to numerous local organizations, including Children’s Hospital of Boston. It will now turn its focus to The One Fund Boston.
To support the victims of the terror attack, please visit The One Fund Boston Website at http://onefundboston.org.