Pride Stores lead way for gas station cuisine

Date: 4/26/2018

Robert Bolduc, CEO of Pride Stores, remembers what kind of food one could find at a gas station years ago. “The most you had was a Coke machine,” he said.

Those days are long gone.  There is a very good chance that where you buy your gas is now the place you can get a decent breakfast or sandwich or maybe something even more.

Bolduc said to be correct it’s no longer “gas stations that sell food, but food stores that sell gas.”

“Gas station cuisine” is a very real thing in many parts of the country and it is arriving in Western Massachusetts. In the mid-Atlantic and southern states chains such as Wawa and Sheetz feature gas stations that are both convenient stores with fast food operations.

In the case of both of these chains, many of the items offered are made according to the order of the customer that is communicated through a touchscreen system.

Western Massachusetts may not have that as yet, but Pride, in many of its locations, does offer a deli counter where sandwiches and other items are made fresh to order. The delis can even cater an event.

The company also has a large food preparation service that delivers fresh sandwiches, salads and other items to the Pride stores daily.

Bolduc is proud of the fact Pride’s selections are made from scratch.

“We make really fresh food. We never freeze it,” he added.

There seems locally to have been a series of steps in this evolution from gas stations with soda and candy bars to offering more convenience items to the installation of the ubiquitous machine that heated rolling hot dogs to gas stations bringing in Dunkin’ Donut or Subway franchises.

Part of this evolution, according to Bolduc, is the profit margin on gasoline is slender. A gas station has to offer much more than simply fuel. He said that with gasoline the competition is tougher and his business has to have “something in our back pocket.”

Take the Liberty Gas station on Liberty Street in Springfield, for example. It has a Dunkin’ Donut shop as well as a Dixy Chicken franchise. The chicken shop offers a wide selection of chicken and non-chicken meals that are all cooked on premise.

Take it from this reporter who eats on the fly, the chicken sandwich is both huge and good.

Cumberland Farms, the almost 600-store chain headquartered in Westborough, is now building stores, according to information supplied by the company, that features “hot sandwiches, pizza, a shake machine, and a state of the art Chill Zone.”

West Springfield has one of those stores, as does Agawam. On a Tuesday morning, the West Springfield location is buzzing with people getting coffee from a large coffee bar or picking up a pre-made breakfast sandwich. The company features seven different breakfast sandwiches, which are available either from a refrigerated counter or hot and ready to eat.

To compete with Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, companies such as Pride and Cumberland Farms must bring in larger selections of hot beverages at prices that attract customers.

Offering convenience is essential in his industry, Bolduc noted.

Pride has built a large commercial kitchen that employs 20 people working two shifts, Bolduc explained. Deliveries are made in the morning of food items that have been made just hours before.

Bolduc has also built a bakery so fresh baked goods could also be part of the inventory.

In the near future, Bolduc plans to install grills and fryolators in many of his locations to cook burgers “fresh in front of you.”

He said those additional constitute a “monumental change.”

He is also beta testing a touch screen ordering system and the company has a phone app.

For Bolduc and Pride, bringing food to the center of his retail operations is following a trend he sees in American society.

“I never dreamed society would change. People don’t make coffee or eat breakfast at home,” he observed.