Since 1975, Duchess convenience stores has served customers in central Ohio. “We are a legacy brand and feel very strongly as a brand to continually evolve,” said Nathan Arnold, director of marketing for Heath, Ohio-based Englefield Oil Company, the parent company of Duchess. The family-owned company celebrated 60 years of business in 2021 and currently operates 119 convenience stores throughout Ohio, with one West Virginia location.
In early 2019, the company decided it was time to bring Duchess into the 21st century. “We wanted to introduce something new to our customers without alienating our current customers, as well as show we were not your typical convenience store,” he said. The things Duchess was known for—fresh food, fresh coffee and clean, bright stores—would stay the same. The new prototype would build on those traits with a refreshed brand ready to meet the future.
Centered on Fresh
In November 2020, the first new Duchess opened in New Albany, Ohio. “At 5,500 square feet, it’s about 1,000 to 1,500 square feet larger than our typical store,” Arnold said. This allowed the company to transform the store’s layout. “We wanted to create a new shopping experience for our customers, including new ways of displaying merchandise and a way to showcase our fresh food,” he said.
For example, the new stores—as of June 2021, the concept has three locations—have an expanded deli section with additional coolers dedicated to the on-the-go consumer, featuring chilled bottles of wine and sparkling water, sushi and charcuterie boards. “We wanted to make it convenient to get quick meals and healthy snacks,” Arnold said.
We wanted to create a farmers market feel instead of having everything on a peg or shelf.
A large window looks into the kitchen, where employees make sandwiches and salads. A local bakery provides fresh donuts and cake pops, among other baked goods. Graphics placed throughout the store change to correspond to the current daypart to let customers know what food offers are available now.
“We dedicated a whole wall of our store to the deli and fresh foodservice,” he said. “We pride ourselves on providing breakfast, lunch and dinner offers. Our moniker ‘A Fresh, Family Tradition’ became kind of a theme for our new prototype, especially with our foodservice.”
A Fresh Take
The new concept changed the look of the store, too. “We partnered with local designers who helped us to push the envelope when it came to design, ” Arnold said. The team went into existing stores to watch customer behavior to gauge how to make the concept’s flow easier. “For this new flagship, we wanted to make sure we had the right strategy for creating a good experience for customers through the layout, lighting and overall look.”
The refresh kept the brand colors of red and gold, but within the store, new elements were introduced, including more hanging graphics that featured local breweries and vendors. The concrete floor is complemented with rich wood tones.
“This is a more modern building, but we’ve incorporated wood cabinets mixed with frosted acrylic and stainless steel, along with updated signage and graphics,” he said, adding that the latter elements are being rolled out companywide.
Feature image: The New Albany, Ohio, location is the first Duchess convenience store built with an all-new design featuring modern elements like polished concrete floors, tile, bright lighting and eye-catching signage. Top and bottom: The New Albany store features in-store seating, an expanded deli section that includes sushi and charcuterie boards, plus treats from a local bakery. A large window looks into the kitchen where sandwiches and salads are made.
Some of the shelving has been replaced with tables holding merchandise in baskets. “We wanted to create a farmers market feel instead of having everything on a peg or shelf,” Arnold said. “It’s a little bit of a different approach to merchandise items and allows us to highlight our Ohio-made products, among other special items.”
The community has been very supportive of the new store, which replaced (in a new location) the previous New Albany store. “Many customers say they can’t believe this is a convenience store because it looks more like a retail store in a mall or shopping center,” he said.
Englefield will bring elements of the new concept to four other stores slated for a refresh this year. “We plan to incorporate the new Duchess concept where we can into existing stores and carry it into new builds as well,” Arnold said.
Overall, the new concept is an extension of how Duchess views its customers and employees. “We truly feel our customers and team members are family,” he said. “There aren’t many family-owned businesses in the convenience sector, and we want to keep that family feeling throughout our company and our stores.”
Bright Ideas
In the new Duchess concept, Ohio-made products take pride of place. “We have a couple of tables completely dedicated to locally made items, from honey and soap to popcorn, jams, jellies and salsas,” said Nathan Arnold, director of marketing for Englefield Oil Company, which owns Duchess. “We also feature Ohio-made ice cream and chips and a wide selection of Ohio craft breweries and wines with special signage in the store.”
The company worked with local vendors and suppliers to bring the best of Ohio to the store. “Because we’re an Ohio brand ourselves, we wanted to introduce products made in Ohio in a special section,” he said. “We’re proud to tell their story alongside our own story.”
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Ideas 2 Go showcases how retailers today are operating the convenience store of tomorrow. To see videos of the c-stores we profiled in 2021 and earlier, go to www.convenience.org/ideas2go.