Driving through New York’s Hudson Valley, one cannot help but run across a location of Flory’s Gas, Convenience & Deli. They share a name, but each store is unique.

The Flory family has been in the gas station business for decades. Today, brothers Jamy and Jerry oversee Flory Corp. Jamy is vice president in charge of operations, and Jerry is the director of development and senior office manager. They were raised in the family gas stations. “I grew up pumping gas and driving a tow truck,” Jamy Flory said.

In 2000 the business transitioned to convenience stores. Today there are four stores located in Fishkill, East Fishkill, Mahopac and Hopewell Junction. The stores are about an hour outside of New York City and located 45 minutes apart from each other. They have similar deli menus, with made-to-order subs and wraps, but hot food is based on what customers are looking for in each market—everything from breakfast burritos to lasagna to burgers and fried chicken.

Local Menus

“In Fishkill, our steam tables have fried chicken at 9 a.m. because landscapers come in and want it that early,” Flory said adding, “We’re off the main highway, and truck drivers come in and they want it that early as well.” The Fishkill location also offers something the other stores do not—empanadas and other Mexican-style food—because that’s what customers want. “You have to know your market and know your clientele,” he said.

We’ve worked really hard to make people know they can get great food in a gas station.

The Mahopac location offers Italian food such as baked ziti, lasagna and more. “We have waffles, English muffins—any breakfast food—and lunch is out at 10:30 a.m.,” he said.

When the stores launched foodservice operations, Flory knew it would take some effort to get customers inside to try it, so he hit the concrete—or in this case, the forecourt.

“We’d walk around with trays and give free samples. We did samples of soup, cut sandwiches, maybe some of the hot specials. We brought them to the pumps. They’d say, ‘You have food here?’,” Flory said of the sampling strategy. “We’ve worked really hard to make people know they can get great food in a gas station. It took forever to get people to understand that. We had to break down people’s mindsets.”

The same customers often stop in multiple stores—sometimes on the same day. “Construction guys stop in at the Route 52 store [East Fishkill], and then drive a half-hour north and buy a lunch sandwich at the next store [Hopewell Junction]. You can pick up lunch at 4 a.m.”

For Flory, personal contact with customers is important. That’s why he visits each store every day. “I’m shaking people’s hands, asking what they want. I want people to know when they come into the store that someone is there who is the face of the company,” he said.

Pandemic Pivots

Flory’s c-stores were not immune to the economic impact of the pandemic. “My Fishkill store has a drive-thru window. Our deli business during the pandemic has gone up. It took a little bit, but delivery got popular. People got tired of pizza and started ordering chicken dinners,” Flory said.

Takeout orders grew. Customers used Uber Eats for delivery, and Flory saw a negative impact on his bottom line at first. “We figured one sale is better than no sale, so we really started pushing it. People came back again. They’re looking for food, and it’s a way for us to sell ourselves.”

Delivery can impact the flavor of some menu items. “Instead of downsizing our menu, we expanded the menu to include foods that were better for delivery.”

Promotions like “5 for 5” helped improve business. “Five dollars and you get two sandwiches after 5 p.m. and get it delivered,” Flory said.

A new store is under construction with the goal of building a store every two or three years. And as always, taking care of customers and employees is a priority. Says Flory: “We’re a very family-oriented company. Employees are like extended family to me.”