WINNER: Simon Xpress
Simon Xpress, a family tribute, features a modern, clean look with a high ceiling and a glass front.
Convenience stores are increasingly renovating and experimenting with store design.
CStore Decisions is recognizing Simon Xpress with a “Best New Store Design Award” for its clean, upscale and modern design, complete with a dedicated foodservice area.
Owned by Island Lane Capital and designed by Federal Heath, Simon Xpress operates one branded location in Warren, Mich., although President of Island Lane Capital Faiz Simon also operates 14 other sites that he built from the ground up under a different banner name.
Simon Xpress is dedicated to Simon’s father, Ramzi Simon, who was born in 1933 and passed away Sept. 5, 2012. Ramzi taught his son to always try, be patient and never give up.
“So I decided to build a really nice-looking site to dedicate it to my father,” Faiz Simon said. “My father passed away 10 years ago, and he inspired me to be the best person around and … he really helped me (get to) where I’m at. I dedicated the building for him and the design.”
Simon plans to build two more convenience store locations branded under the Simon Xpress name.
A Modern Design
Simon Xpress is a bright and colorful 4,700-square-foot store with a 24-foot ceiling. The color scheme is mostly white, which Simon chose because it looks clean, with green accents to allude to his belief in a “green” environment. Green was also his father’s favorite color. The building is made of white and charcoal brick with glass extending nearly to the sidewalk. It has an automatic entrance.
“I’m all about modern colors and modern style design of the c-store,” said Simon.
The front of the building features the name of the brand with “Market + Meals” underneath.
Tony Camilletti and Michael Benincasa of Federal Heath, who Simon has worked with previously, helped design the store.
“I told them (what) my vision of a store would look like; I told them I’m looking for customer service, walking in and walking out and getting the experience,” said Simon. “I wanted them to help me take my design ideas that I have, my ability to think of customers’ convenience. … So I told them about all that and they came up with this design for me.”
The forecourt at Simon Xpress features bp-branded gas pumps that can serve up to 10 vehicles at a time. The exterior also holds a patio for guests and 14 car parking spaces.
RSP Construction helped build the site and Barrick Enterprises supplied the fuel.
In-Store Attributes
Inside Simon Xpress, customers will find Buscemis and Einstein Bros. Bagels situated next to each other. Buscemis, local to Michigan, serves Detroit-style deep dish pizza, as well as strombolis, calzones and more.
“Buscemis is known for pizza. Their specialty (is) when it comes to the sauce. They have a great sauce. They have a great cheese,” said Simon.
Einstein Bros. offers guests bagels with six different cream cheese varieties, lunch options and specials. The franchise also has a coffee program with hot and cold specialty drinks such as cappuccinos and lattes.
The store installed a separate coffee island that offers decaf, vanilla, hazelnut and regular coffee.
In addition to these two foodservice concepts, Simon Xpress features a roller grill program positioned in front of the other food offerings.
Directly next to Einstein Bros. is an area for fountain beverages. The section includes f’real ice cream as well as an 18-head fountain machine. An Icee machine sits directly next to f’real with four heads of Icee products.
“And we have on the other side where the island is, (in) front of it, we have three different kinds of frozen serve beverages. It’s by Tropical Surf,” said Simon.
Simon Xpress also boasts a large 24-foot wine section, with both sides of the shelves serving this beverage segment.
“We have eight different venues from Northern Michigan that we serve the wine from. … And we’ve got French, we have Spanish wine; we have California as well and New Zealand varieties,” said Simon.
In addition to a robust wine selection the store features a 30-foot-by-16-foot liquor selection with a plethora of options as well as a walk-in beer cave.
Simon Xpress also features a 10-foot open case refrigeration cooler with four levels of prepared food.
“I’ll tell you, we have so many compliments right now. I’ve got not only customers, but our competitors coming in and taking videos, taking pictures,” said Simon. “The colors, the ceiling, everything is top notch.”
WINNER: Oak Grove Market
Oak Grove Market offers customers a spacious marketplace and foodservice destination with an upscale design.
Located in Prairieville, La., Oak Grove Market is a new-to-industry 6,000-square-foot convenience store that opened its doors in April 2022.
CStore Decisions is recognizing Oak Grove Market with a “Best New Store Design Award” recognition for its upscale design, complete with a drive-through, a strong foodservice presence and ample guest seating inside and out.
“I guess you could call it a hybrid,” said Gregg Patterson, who co-owns Oak Grove Market along with business partner, Ben Bercegeay.
The business owners partnered with design firm Paragon Solutions to create the store design.
“The store is half homemade, upper-scale marketplace, half convenience,” Patterson said.
Patterson and Bercegeay also own and operate two Pit Stop convenience stores.
Oak Grove Market is located on a high-traffic road, and although it’s not positioned adjacent to a stop sign or traffic light, the location still attracts attention; the store gets new customers every day.
The building is primarily white and trimmed in brown oak. The forecourt with five Exxon-branded dispensers is situated on the side of the store. The store includes a large parking lot for guests.
“We didn’t put (the gas pumps) across the front because that’s not what I wanted people to see first,” said Patterson.
The c-store also boasts a drive-through, where customers can order any item available in the store. Customers can also choose curbside pickup and order online through the Toast app.
At the drive-through, the store has one three-barrel Icee machine and a fountain machine in addition to one on the store floor.
If customers choose to spend more time at Oak Grove Market, they can sit at a table on the outdoor patio. A large glass garage door opens and allows the patio to flow directly into the interior, where guests will find two large wooden community tables with bar stools as well as bench seating. The location features around 60 seats, including both interior and exterior seating.
“We’re proud of it. It’s a beautiful place,” said Patterson.
A Food Focal Point
The heart of Oak Grove Market is Grub at the Grove, where the store implements its own food program. The area features a white tile background with a teal accent.
Grub at the Grove houses a brick oven that cooks pizzas, wings, rotisserie chickens, rotisserie ribs, homemade bread for sandwiches and more.
The menu features eight specialty pizzas, with toppings such as homemade pulled pork or smoked sausage, as well as 13 wing flavors. Oak Grove Market also recently started offering homemade chicken salad, as well as salsas. The store also offers grab-and-go items displayed on black gondolas.
Patterson envisioned Oak Grove market as a foodservice destination more than a traditional convenience concept. “It was more of ‘Let’s go eat at Oak Grove Market.’ That’s what I was hoping for.”
A Spacious Layout
The floors at Oak Grove Market are made of natural concrete, and the ceiling is black and adorned with barn lights that hang down, illuminating the store.
Aside from Grub at the Grove, Oak Grove Market includes a fountain drink section as well as a walk-in beer cooler that holds many local craft brews.
The fountain machine sits on a countertop inside a large brown display. Beside that are the three-barrel Icee machine and six Frazil taps. On the other side of the fountain drinks, an iced tea display stands out against a grey and black patterned wall.
Customers have the option to enjoy a cup of coffee from four different bean-to-cup machines, with three different flavors of beans per machine.
The store also offers a large wine selection with 60 different wines, which are merchandised in a few large wooden crates as well as in the store’s large open-air cooler — the bottom row is filled with white wines. A four-foot-by-four-foot rack displays red wines.
“We have a lot of specialty cabinetry up front,” said Patterson. A lot of the displays at the front of the store hold produce and other seasonal items.
“It’s an operation, there’s no doubt. But it’s just taking a little time to grow, and it is growing. … because it’s a little bit different,” Patterson said.
