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Convenience store

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A convenience store is a small store or shop, generally accessible or local. They are often located alongside busy roads, or at gas/petrol stations. This can take the form of gas stations supplementing their income with retail outlets, or convenience stores adding gas to the list of goods that they offer. Railway stations also often have convenience stores. They are also frequently located in densely-populated urban neighborhoods.

Convenience store in Tokyo, Japan

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[edit] Goods on offer

Sometimes abbreviated to c-store, various types exist, for example: liquor stores (off-licences – offies), mini-markets (mini-marts) or party stores. Typically junk food (candy, ice-cream, soft drinks), lottery tickets, newspapers and magazines are sold. Unless the outlet is a liquor store, the range of alcohol beverages is likely to be limited (i.e. beer and wine) or non-existent. Many stores carry cigarettes and other tobacco products. Varying degrees of food supplies are usually available, from household products, to prepackaged foods like sandwiches and frozen burritos. Automobile related items such as motor oil, maps and car kits may be sold. Often toiletries and other hygiene products are stocked, as well as pantyhose and contraception. Some of these stores also offer money orders and wire transfer services.

Some convenience stores have a hot food counter (often called, simply, a deli), with chicken pieces, breakfast food and many other items. Often there is an in-store bakery – throughout Europe these now sell fresh French bread (or similar). A process of freezing part-baked bread allows easy shipment (often from France) and baking in-store. A delicatessen counter is also popular, offering custom-made sandwiches and baguettes. Some stores have a self-service microwave oven for heating purchased food.

Convenience stores may be combined with other services, such as a train station ticket counter or a post office counter.

[edit] Differences from supermarkets

Size is the main difference, although larger newer convenience stores have quite a broad range of items. Prices in a convenience store are typically higher than at a supermarket, mass merchandise store, or auto supply store (with the exception of the goods such as milk, soda and fuel in which convenience stores traditionally do high volume and sometimes use as loss leaders). In the United States, the stores will sometimes be the only stores and services near an interstate highway exit where drivers can buy any kind of food or drink for miles. Most of the profit margin from these stores comes from beer, liquor, and cigarettes. Although those three categories themselves usually yield lower margins per item, the amount of sales in the categories generally makes up for it. Profits per item are much higher on deli items (bags of ice, chicken, etc), but sales are generally lower.

At least in some countries most convenience stores have longer shopping hours, some being open twenty-four hours.

[edit] Convenience stores in the United States

The first convenience store in the United States was opened in Dallas, Texas in 1927 by the Southland Ice Company, which eventually became 7-Eleven. Since that time many different convenience store brands have developed, and their stores may either be corporate-owned or franchises. The items offered for sale tend to be similar despite store brand, and almost always include milk, bread, soft drinks, cigarettes, coffee, slurpees, Fresca, candy bars, Twinkies, Slim Jims, hot dogs, ice cream, candy, gum, chips, pretzels, popcorn, beef jerky, doughnuts, maps, magazines, newspapers, small toys, car supplies, feminine hygiene products, cat food, dog food, and toilet paper. Other less common items include sandwiches, pizza, and frozen foods. Nearly all convenience stores also have a toilet for customer use, and an automated teller machine (ATM), though other bankings services are usually not available. State lottery tickets are also available at these stores

Some convenience stores in the United States also sell gasoline. Since the sale of alcoholic beverages are regulated in the United States by the individual state governments, the availability of beer, wine, and liquor varies from one state to another. Convenience stores in Pennsylvania cannot sell any types of alcohol at all. Stores in Nevada can sell any type of alcoholic beverage.

American convenience stores are sometimes the target of armed robbery. In some areas of the United States, it is not uncommon for clerks to work behind a bulletproof glass window, even during daylight hours. The main dangers are that almost all convenience stores have only one person working the night shift, most of the transactions are in cash, and easily resold merchandise, such as liquor, lottery tickets and cigarettes are on the premises. Most convenience stores have a cash drop slot into a time-delay safe so clerks may limit the amount of cash on hand. Many have installed security cameras to help prevent robberies and shoplifting.

Because of the above reasons, nearly all convenience stores have a friendly relationship with the local police. Some even provide a small police substation in the store, and traditionally provide free coffee to police officers. Police officers often patrol the parking lot of a convenience store, especially after the closing time of bars in an effort to apprehend drunk drivers.

In certain parts of the Midwest, especially Michigan, locals prefer to use the term party store. Most of these stores have bullet-proof glass protecting the clerk and all valuables such as liquor, cigarettes and cash takings are kept behind these walls.

In New York City they are almost always referred to as bodegas (A Spanish word for "storehouse"). Other regional differences in terms also exist. Also in New York bodegas tend to carry fewer healthy foods in comparison to their neighborhood's socioeconomic level [1].

[edit] Convenience stores in Canada

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (operates Mac's Convenience Stores and Beckers Milk) is the largest convenience store chain in Canada. Another large chain is Quickie Mart, which predates the infamous "Kwik-E-Mart" featured on The Simpsons.

The world's largest convenience retailer, 7-Eleven has about 500 locations from BC to Ontario. Worldwide, the highest number of the chain's famous Slurpee® beverages are sold in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Marketing itself as "more than just a convenience store", there are over 150 Hasty Market locations throughout Ontario.

In French-speaking province of Quebec, a convenience store is known as a "dépanneur". Dépanneur means literally "the one who gets you out of a jam".

[edit] Convenience stores in Japan

Although originated in the United States, convenience stores developed tremendously in Japan. 7-Eleven Japan, while struggling to localize their service in 1970s to 1980s, evolved its POS-based business. Ultimately, Ito-Yokado, the parent company of 7-Eleven Japan, acquired 7-Eleven (US) from Southland Corporation in 1991. Japanese styled convenience stores (or konbini, as they call it) also heavily influenced those stores in other Asian nations, such as Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and Mainland China.

Convenience stores heavily rely on POS system. Customers' ages, sexes, as well as tomorrow's weather forecast are important data. All orders are made on-line. As their store sizes are limited, they have to choose selling brands very severely.

In many cases, several same-chained stores exist in neighboring area. This strategy, called dominant, makes distribution to each store cheaper. (ja:ドミナント政策) It also makes multiple distributions per a day possible. Generally, foods are delivered two to five times a day from factories to each store. Since products are delivered as-needed, stores don't need large backyards.

It is disputed which was the first convenience store in Japan. Some says Mami in Toyonaka, 1969 is the first. Cocostore claims their store in Kasugai, 1971 as the first, while Seicomart makes the similar claim for their store in Sapporo, 1971. Others say the first 7-Eleven store in Japan, Kōtō (Tōkyō), 1974, truly began Japanese styled convenience store.

As of 2005, there are 43,667 convenience stores in Japan. [2] Among them, 7-Eleven leads the market with 11,310 stores, followed by Lawson and FamilyMart.

Items sold in Japanese convenience stores include:

Some stores also sell:

Items not sold in most Japanese convenience stores include:

[edit] Convenience stores in Taiwan

Image:7 ELEVEn Outles in Sindian.jpg

Boasting 8,058 convenience stores in an area of 35,980 km² and a population of 22.9 million, Taiwan has the Asia Pacific’s and perhaps the world’s highest density of convenience stores per person: one store per 2,800 people or .000357 stores per person (2005 ACNielsen ShopperTrends). With 3,680 7-Eleven stores, Taiwan also has the world’s highest density of 7-Elevens per person: one store per 6,200 people or .000161 stores per person (International Licensing page of 7-Eleven website). In Taipei, it is not unusual to see two 7-Elevens across the street or several of them within a few hundreds of meters of each other.

Because they are found everywhere, convenience stores in Taiwan provide services on behalf of financial institutions or government agencies such as collection of the city parking fee, utility bills, traffic violation fines, and credit card payments. Eighty percent of urban household shoppers in Taiwan visit a convenience store each week (2005 ACNielsen ShopperTrends). The idea of being able to purchase food items, drinks, fast food, magazines, videos, computer games, and so on 24 hours per a day and at any corner of a street makes life easier for Taiwan's extremely busy and rushed population.

[edit] Similar concepts

Convenience stores are similar but not identical to Australian milk bars. Corner shops in the British Isles, still to be found today, were the pre-cursor to the modern European convenience store (e.g. SPAR) in these countries. In the Canadian province of Quebec, dépanneurs are often family-owned neighbourhood shops that serve similar purposes. Travel centers are a relatively new concept in the United States. Selling the same types of goods as convenience stores, travel centers typically are larger and offer more services. Fast food restaurants, large dining areas, and even showers for the professional driver are commonly found in travel centers. Typically, travel centers also sell high volumes of diesel fuel for over-the-road "18-wheelers".

Neighborhood grocery stores that are not big enough to be considered a supermarket often compete with convenience stores. For example, in Los Angeles, CA, yummy.com (www.yummy.com), operates neighborhood grocery stores that fill a niche somewhere between a traditional supermarket and convenience store. Because they stock fresh fruit and fresh meat and carry upwards of 5000 items, they have a lot in common with the supermarket. Because the size of the store is relatively small, customers can get in and out conveniently, or have their purchases delivered.

[edit] Convenience stores in popular culture

A Quick Stop convenience store in Leonardo, New Jersey was the primary setting for the movie Clerks. Another film centered around convenience stores is Michael Winterbottom's Butterfly Kiss (1995), with a powerful performance by Amanda Plummer as a demented killer of convenience store clerks.

The eponymous characters of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) first meet their time-travel guide, Rufus, while hanging out in front of a convenience store, with Ted memorably declaring that "strange things are afoot at the Circle-K."

In George Sluizer's The Vanishing (1988), remade in 1993, a woman is abducted at a roadside convenience store while her husband waits outside in the parking lot.

Apu, a character in The Simpsons, runs the local Kwik-E-Mart.

In Dennis Etchison's horror short story, "The Late Shift" (originally in Kirby McCauley's anthology Dark Forces, 1980, and excerpted here), the undead work nights at the Stop 'N Start Market and other convenience stores.

In Twin Peaks, and its prequel movie Fire Walk With Me the characters BOB and Mike are said to "live above a convenience store".

The Paul Simon Song, Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes, has the line 'She said, honey, take me dancing/but they ended up by sleeping in a doorway/by the bodegas and the lights on upper broadway...

[edit] List of convenience stores

[edit] North America

[edit] Europe

[edit] Asia

Lawson Terauchicho 1Chome Shop（Osaka・Moriguchi Japan）
Image:Kaesong familymart.jpg

[edit] See also

[edit] See also

←←←zh-min-nan:Piān-lī kám-á-tiàm de:Convenience Shop fr:Dépanneur ja:コンビニエンスストア pt:Loja de conveniência zh:便利商店

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