Thursday, January 30, 2025, 3:49AM |  37°
MENU
Advertisement
GetGo's new store in Monroeville on Jan. 21, 2019.  With GetGo's recent acquisition of the Ricker's chain in Indianapolis and new store plans, the chain is eyeing more growth.
3
MORE

Giant Eagle wants to put another GetGo near you

Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette

Giant Eagle wants to put another GetGo near you

Grocery chain Giant Eagle hasn’t built a lot of new supermarkets in recent years, even sliding a few hardware stores into some of its existing locations to give customers more reasons to stop in.

But convenience stores seem to be a different story. The O’Hara grocer sees potential in continuing to grow its GetGo stores chain selling gas, sandwiches and smoothies — an assessment that drove its recent acquisition in Indiana.

GetGo snapped up Ricker’s, a chain of convenience stores in September for an undisclosed amount.

Advertisement

“We were about 10 in market share in Indiana. This catapults us to number two and allows us to scale quickly,” said Polly Flinn, executive vice president and general manager for GetGo. 

Customers fill up at a GetGo in Verona. Giant Eagle, which owns GetGo, expanding its fuelperks program.
Stephanie Ritenbaugh
Perks at the pump: Giant Eagle expands its loyalty program

Giant Eagle isn’t alone in seeing opportunity in the convenience store space. Recent years have seen the number of convenience stores climb steadily as they’ve shed their image of junk food and scorched coffee for fresher, healthier choices. 

There were a record 154,958 stores at the end of 2017, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores/Nielsen Convenience Industry Store Count.  

That year, overall sales climbed 9.3 percent to $601.1 billion, led by a 14.9 percent increase in fuel sales — largely due to higher gas prices in 2017, according to NACS, the Alexandria, Va.-based trade group.

Advertisement

Location and scale is key in the convenience store business — being within easy reach of consumers and their cars. And having plenty of locations for regular customers to use their loyalty cards.

In December, Coen Markets Inc. — a Canonsburg-based company that owns stores in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio — acquired CoGo’s, which operates 38 locations in and around Pittsburgh.

Altoona-based Sheetz is in the midst of an expansion with plans to build 25 to 30 stores a year. The company, which pulls in more than $5.6 billion in revenue, operates more than 560 store locations with at least 18,500 employees in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina.

For industry operators like Giant Eagle, convenience store growth is an opportunity as the grocery space faces increasing competition.

Snacks and beverages from the Market District sit near the cashier at the GetGo in Verona.
Stephanie Ritenbaugh
Convenience stores like GetGo, Sheetz try to sell healthier foods

Bloomberg Intelligence points out that the landscape for supermarkets is crowded “as discount stores, dollar stores and warehouse clubs have improved their food selection to drive customer traffic in stores. Growth in hard-discount grocery chains is also rising.”

“Supermarket operators have to be nimble to defend share, especially as online sales grow,” Bloomberg Intelligence stated.

Giant Eagle has responded by adding home delivery and curbside pickup for customers who don’t want to bother to shop, but grocers of all sorts are challenged by online rivals and even delivery services that pick up food from neighborhood restaurants.

Meanwhile, GetGo has had seven stores in the Indianapolis-area since 2015. The Ricker’s deal gives the company another 63 stores and 80 wholesale locations, Ms. Flinn said. Ricker’s, founded in 1979, has more than 750 employees. The stores are expected to operate under the GetGo name by the end of the summer.

“We thought this chain had a really good set of capabilities,” she said. “We were looking for great people and thought this was a really great opportunity for us to acquire.”

The GetGo chain is also investing in its operations closer to home.

Earlier this month, GetGo also opened the doors at a new location in Monroeville and is working on a new store in New Stanton that is expected to open this spring, which will bring the store total to 256.

Ms. Flinn notes that while convenience stores aren’t completely “internet proof,” it’s a sector that’s growing successfully because it fills a need.

“For 80 percent of consumers, this is a need they’re trying to address within an hour. And they’re buying inside that they’re going to consume within an hour — I’m thirsty; I’m hungry. It’s an impulse destination.”

Stephanie Ritenbaugh: sritenbaugh@post-gazette.com; 412-263-4910; Twitter: @StephanieRit

First Published: January 30, 2019, 12:00 p.m.
Updated: January 30, 2019, 12:01 p.m.

RELATED
Refrigerated Produce  in  the newly renovated
Stephanie Ritenbaugh
Aldi invests $36 million in Pittsburgh as discount grocers step up their game
Don't forget to add a lawn mower to the grocery list. Giant Eagle opening its first Ace Hardware.
Stephanie Ritenbaugh
Don't forget to add a lawn mower to the grocery list. Giant Eagle opening its first Ace Hardware.
The renovated Family Dollar store on Main Street in Sharpsburg has added a whole lot more coolers than it used to have.
Stephanie Ritenbaugh
Why your local dollar store is embracing change. Not that kind.
A worker at the Walmart in North Versailles in 2016. Walmart is launching home delivery service to eight southwestern Pennsylvania stores starting Thursday.
Stephanie Ritenbaugh
Walmart ups the ante, adds grocery delivery to 8 local stores
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers waits on deck in the first inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on June 6, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1
sports
The Pirates surveyed fans about their relationship with the franchise. It didn't go well
Ross Park Mall announces new retail and dining offerings in 2025.
2
business
These new retail and dining options are coming to Ross Park Mall in 2025
A view of emergency response looking from Arlington, Va., south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, across the Potomac River toward the District of Columbia, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025.
3
news
Passenger jet collides with Army helicopter while landing at Reagan Washington National Airport
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick slammed Mayor Ed Gainey's refusal to cooperate with federal immigration agents in a growing battle between Republicans in Washington and local Democratic officials over President Donald Trump's hardline deportation policies.
4
news
McCormick presses Gainey to ‘follow the law’ as Trump deportation plans play out
Beatrice and Jose Tecuanhuehue, owners of Tienda Mexicana El Pastorcito in Monroeville, Taqueria el Pastorcito restaurant in New Kensington and a mobile food trailer.
5
local
'It’s scary': Uncertainty over immigration policy impacts Pittsburgh’s Hispanic food community
GetGo's new store in Monroeville on Jan. 21, 2019. With GetGo's recent acquisition of the Ricker's chain in Indianapolis and new store plans, the chain is eyeing more growth.  (Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette)
GetGo's new store in Monroeville on Jan. 21, 2019. With GetGo's recent acquisition of the Ricker's chain in Indianapolis and new store plans, the chain is eyeing more growth.  (Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette)
GetGo's newly designed store in Monroeville on Jan. 21, 2019. With GetGo's recent acquisition of the Ricker's chain in Indianapolis and new store plans, the chain is eyeing more growth.  (Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette)
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST business
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story