A convenience-store chain called Turkey Hill Minit Markets--sister company to the maker of Turkey Hill ice cream, milk and iced tea--is expanding into central Indiana.
Now Turkey Hill is working on a flurry of new locations, including on undeveloped property at the southeast corner of Emerson Avenue and Shelbyville Road in Indianapolis, and to replace a former Pizza Hut at the northeast corner of Rangeline Road and Carmel Drive in Carmel.The dairy, founded in 1931, is named for what was a popular hunting spot for Susquehannock Native American tribe.Turkey Hill ice cream and beverages already are sold at local Kroger stores, but the eponymous convenience stores boast a more extensive selection of Turkey Hill ice cream flavors. The stores also include standard convenience store fare including subs, burgers, pizza and salads.g For more movers & shakers news ... plus email alerts, forums and other features go to our website www.theqrocer.co.ukSource: IBJ researchThe company is scouting for three more central Indiana sites, including at least one more in Carmel, to open by the end of 2011, Clark said.Turkey Hill Minit MarketsRachel's was snapped up by French dairy giant Groupe Lactalis in July.Indiana growth plans: four or five more stores next year, including in Indianapolis and CarmelBurchell's appointment follows a turbulent few years for south Wales-based Loseley. After being acquired by Hill Station in 2006, a decision to move all of the group's production to Loseley's Cwmbran factory failed to boost the company's performance, and receivers were called in in October 2008.is Village Pantry, which has more than 40 locations around town.Turkey Hill is entering one of the nation's most competitive convenience-store. markets and a Great Lakes region with razor-thin fuel margins, said Jay Ricker, chairman of Anderson-based Ricker Oil Co. and a former chairman of the Association for Convenience and Petroleum Retailing.Locations: 245 in Pennsylvania, 11 in Ohio, two in IndianaNow backed by private equity firm Acuity Capital, Burchell said he was relishing the chance to grow a business that includes the Loseley, Thayers, Granelli's and Yorkshire Dales Old Fashioned Ice Cream brands.The chain will piggyback on its parent company's supply chain to offer grocery staples such as milk, bread and eggs at prices comparable to those of a full-size grocery store, said John Elliott, a regional spokesman for Kroger.Local stores: 4960 Madison Ave., 1860 S. Ohio St in MartinsvilleBusiness: convenience store chainAnother big player in the Indianapolis convenience-store marketThe subsidiary of Cincinnati-based The Kroger Co. operates a dairy in Lancaster County, Pa., along with a chain of about 250 convenience stores, mostly in Pennsylvania.Headquarters: Lancaster, Pa.Turkey Hill Minit Markets chose Indiana for its first store outside of Pennsylvania, opening in Martinsville in 2008. But the company didn't open a second Indiana store until October when it unveiled a location at the northwest corner of Madison Avenue and Thompson Road.The chain, formerly a part of locally based Marsh Supermarkets Inc., now operates as VPS Convenience Store Group and is based in Wilmington, N.C., after a spinoff from Marsh by parent company Sun Capital Partners of Florida."It's a crowded market," said Ricker, whose company owns more than 50 BP and ampm convenience store locations, about half of them in the Indianapolis area.The expansion of Turkey Hill supports Kroger's growth plans for the market, providing coverage in geographic areas that can't support a full food store, Elliott said. The new convenience stores also will tie into the Kroger fuel rewards program.Burchell has been recruited to the newly-created role to replicate the success he achieved at Rachel's where, as MD, he oversaw a six-fold increase in sales of branded products to [pounds sterling]30m.
Source: IBJ research
Author: Schouten, Cory
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