There's nothing worse than pulling up to a gas pump and discovering that the apparatus to hold the pump in place is missing, causing you to miss the end of “Market Place” or, worse, to stand out in the cold for what feels like forever while the pump clicks slowly forward because there's someone else on the opposite side slowing down the pumping speed.
Or . . .
You purchase a half-gallon of milk only to get home and realize that it expires the next day, so you'll need to go out and buy yet another half-gallon so you can have cereal for dinner for the seventh night in a row.
Or . . .
You need a quick bite to eat, but all the convenience store offers is the Lunchables with ham and turkey, and everyone knows Lunchables meat is questionable. So, you opt for the Snickers bar and fountain soda, which is just another setback on your goal to lose 10 pounds before your wedding in three months.
Readers, we have heard your cries.
We set out last week to rate six convenience stores – we wanted to find out who had the best selection, gas clickys (see photo closeup for explanation of term) and milk that doesn't expire the next day.
You might be thinking that six convenience stores is really only a small percentage of the stores in Concord, and you'd be right. But you'd also be surprised how long it took us to cover the six we did choose. The moral of the story? Be grateful for what you have.
Our selection criteria were pretty simple: The location had to sell gas, and we only chose one location from a particular chain – for instance, we chose only one Irving and one Shell station. We also tried to choose stations scattered around several sectors of the city – Fisherville Road, Loudon Road, Main Street and Manchester Street.
Our data gathering was highly scientific, let me tell you. It involved quite a bit of preplanning to reduce the creep-factor/appearance of stealing. First off, we didn't want to go in with a clipboard, because that would just arouse suspicion. We devised a plan where I would go directly to the restroom while Cassie would head over to the beverage section to check out the milk expiration date and selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. She would then continue browsing, waiting for me to get out of the bathroom. When I was finished with the restroom assessment, I made my way to the coffee, where Cassie would join me when she was done browsing. I paid for the coffee, asked about the beverage discount card and we left together. In the car, we quickly jotted down notes on our observations. Then, I attempted to take a photo of the building from the front seat of the car without catching anyone's attention. This was only problematic at one location, where the cashier decided to take a smoke break out front. We saved that photo for later.
I'm happy to report that none of the convenience store visitations involved the Concord police, though, admittedly, when a Concord police officer was driving behind us on the way to one station, I did get nervous. I had to remind myself that I wasn't doing anything wrong.
While not every store in town is represented here, we hope you find our survey helpful. Each location had its specialty, so you can plan your next fill-up accordingly.
Katie Henry
PS: Here’s the scale we used when rating certain features: 0 is “trying to block this out” and 5 is “exceptional.”
Cumberland Farms, 102 Manchester St.
Hours: Open 24 hours
Gas clicky thing: No.
Non-alcoholic beverage selection: 4. This was the only store that had both Pepsi and Coke fountain drinks, other than that all the typical beverages were there (hot chocolate, a Cumberland Farms version of a fruit slush . . . you get the point.)
Alcohol selection: 4. The beer selection was nothing to write home about, but there was a decent amount of wine.
Milk expiration date (on March 25): April 4
Lunch items: 3. Cumberland Farm had this island of food near the front of the store. On it were prepackaged sandwiches and hot dogs, and other miscellaneous lunch items. I would have given the store a 4, if not for the cold prepackaged hot dogs. I like my dogs hot, thank you.
Restroom: 0. I'm not going to lie – I couldn't even pretend that I was going to use this restroom, because that's how gross it was. It went way beyond my expectations for an overly-used gas-station bathroom. The sink was dirty, there was a puddle of water on the floor, the light switch was on a timer — which is kind of weird — it was super cramped and it smelled bad. Also, it was creepy.
Coffee: 99 cents for all sizes.
Beverage discount card?: No.
Friendliness of service: 4.
Store interior: 2. This was pretty standard fare for a convenience store. The store looks like it has seen a lot of foot traffic in its time. The fluorescent lighting doesn't do much for the ambiance.
Most random item: I had a hard time finding a truly random item, but I suppose I'll go with the CD selection near the register. As if someone is impulsively going to buy “Greatest Rock Hits of 1994” while perusing scratch tickets.
Irving/Circle K, 114 Fisherville Road
Hours: 5 a.m.-midnight
Gas clicky thing: Yes.
Non-alcoholic beverage selection: 5. There were plenty of bottled drinks in the cooler, a fountain soda machine with Pepsi products, a milkshake/smoothie/iced cappuccino machine, a selection of iced coffee, hot chocolate and so much more! I was most impressed with the milkshake machine though, where you can make your own milkshakes. I mean, I know I have a blender at home, but what if I want a frothy beverage while I'm selecting my Power Ball numbers?
Alcohol selection: 5. Between the cooler next to the nonalcoholic beverages and the extra cooler full of beer in the back of the store, this Irving definitely had the widest beer selection. The wine options weren't as vast, but still decent.
Milk expiration date (on March 25): March 29.
Lunch items: 4. Hot dogs, frozen meals, sandwiches, wraps and Lunchables were all there (including one of my favorites — pizza Lunchables!). This store received a high score mostly because the frozen food selection was decent for those of us who think convenience store sandwiches are a little questionable.
Restroom: 4. Perfectly adequate.
Coffee: $1.60
Beverage discount card?: Buy 5 cups of coffee or cappuccino, get one free.
Friendliness of service: 5. Excellent. The staff is always nice when we stop in.
Store interior: 5 Everything still looks pretty new, stations and aisles are spaced out well and it's nice and clean.
Most random item: Barack Obama trading cards.
Hess, 175 N. Main St.
Open 24 hours
Gas clicky thing: Boo. No.
Non-alcoholic beverage selection: 3. Not bad but nothing impressive, unless you're into Mountain Dew and Pepsi “freezes.”
Alcohol selection: 2. The beer selection was okay (had the basics, but didn't stray too far from the Bud Light/Miller Light families.) I couldn't find any wine.
Milk expiration date (on March 25): March 28
Lunch items: 3. Had sandwiches and hot dogs with all the fixins'.
Restroom: 3. Serviceable, but not great.
Coffee: $1.49 (I wasn't a fan of the lids – I'm pretty sure there would be spills if I had to make a tight turn in the car.
Beverage discount card?: Buy any six hot beverages, get one free.
Friendliness of service: 5 The staff were nice here, in spite of the cramped quarters.
Store interior: 2 The store is kept neat, but it's still pretty cluttered. It's as though the powers that be attempted to squeeze way too much convenience into a very small store. Less is more, Hess executives!
Most random item: Disposable salt and pepper shakers.
Fred's Kwik Stop and Deli (Sunoco gas), 15 Manchester St.
Open 5 a.m.-10 p.m. weekdays, open at 6 a.m. Saturday, 7 a.m. Sunday.
Gas clicky thing: Yes
Non-alcoholic beverage selection: 3. You could probably find anything you wanted in bottled beverages, and Fred's had a good variety of Vitamin Water (something I'm a fan of.)
Alcohol selection: 3. Had both beer and wine, although it took me a little while to find the wine (it's not at eye level and it is near the front of the store.)
Milk expiration date (on March 25): March 25
Lunch items: Definitely 5. I was very, very impressed with Fred's lunch items. Of course this store was going to rank the highest because it had a deli located inside of it, but for those of us who don't have time to wait for someone to make us a sandwich, there were several pre-made sandwiches, pasta salads, salads, pizza, pastries and more located in the middle of the store. And guess what? These items are made fresh by Fred himself, so none of those yucky preservatives you'll find in other gas station sandwiches. Fred's even had proportioned orange Jell-O with whipped cream and 24 flavors of soft serve. So, not only can you get your lunch and scratch tickets at Fred's, but you can get dessert, too!
Restroom: We were unable to check out the restroom – it was being used the duration that we were in the store (and at that point, we didn't really want to go in anyway).
Coffee: 96 cents
Beverage discount card?: Buy five coffees of cappuccinos, get one free.
Friendliness of service: 5. Just about everyone we ran into in the store staff-wise had a smile. You don't see that every day.
Store interior: 4. The interior is part convenience store, part mini-grocery store. We like that the sandwiches are front and center, except for the temptation to grab the trio of egg salad sandwiches and/or baklava.
Most random item: I'm not quite sure how to best explain this item, but I found it near the register. It was a pencil sharpener located on the bottom of this miniature box that said “I Love You” on the outside of it. Open up the box and you'll find a moving bug (not a real one, a cute looking “love” bug, I suppose you'd call it.) An interesting way to tell your honey that you love him/her, I suppose . . .
Shell, 343 Loudon Road
Open 24 hours
Gas clicky thing: Yes
Non-alcoholic beverage selection: 5. This store automatically got bumped up to a 5 for me because it had a throwback from my childhood — a Slush Puppy machine. This is my absolute favorite of all convenience store chilled ice drinks because you can control the amount of syrup in each cup (this is the machine where you get your slush first, and then can squirt one of several flavors into it.) A squirt of melon and a squirt of strawberry? Don't mind if I do!
Alcohol selection:5. The beer cooler was small, but still managed to have a varied selection (it wasn't just filled with Bud Light.) The store had plenty of wine and it was presented nicely in a wine rack, which made the whole purchasing wine at a convenience store situation a little classier.
Milk expiration date (on March 25): April 4.
Lunch items: 2. There wasn't a whole lot to choose from, there were a couple of sandwiches that did not look too appetizing and a few Lunchables. I would call this more of a “snack and Slush Puppy” destination.
Restroom: 4. This might be the cream of the crop for restaurant bathrooms. It actually looked clean and it smelled good, which was a pleasant surprise.
Coffee: 99 cents, all sizes
Beverage discount card?: Buy five cups, get one free.
Friendliness of service: 4. Our cashier was quirky, but friendly.
Store interior: 5. This feels like a pretty new store, still. The layout makes sense and things are pretty easy to find. We liked the open-shelf product display — it made the inside feel even more open.
Most random item: Conversation hearts (a little out of season, don't you think?)
7-11, 125 Loudon Road
Open 24 hours
Gas clicky thing: Yes
Non-alcoholic beverage selection: 4. Of course there were 7-11's signature slurpies and Pepsi fountain beverages. I was intrigued by the store's hot cocoa machine which included such flavors as “candy cane” and Hershey's hot chocolate.
Alcohol selection:2. Had the beer basics, not a whole lot of anything else.
Milk expiration date (on March 25): April 5 — the best we encountered.
Lunch items: 4. This 7-11 not only had sandwiches and hot pockets, but also a large selection of hot dogs and other tube shaped meats (one was called “cheeseburger.”) Also, notable were tacquitos and “create your own” nachos. I would have given it a 5, but I'm not entirely sure if I personally would ever eat anything there.
Restroom: 3. This restroom was clean, but the room itself is badly in need of renovation. Also, there didn't feel like there was enough separation between the store and the restoom (conversations and activity outside the bathroom door could be heard very clearly).
Coffee: $1.39 (It should be noted that there was no regular half-and-half available, only flavored. They lose points in my book for that.)
Beverage discount card?: The cashier informed us that no one ever asks about these, but she handed one over anyway. Buy six hot beverages and get the seventh free. (It should be noted that the expiration date on the card is 12/31/08, so it's anyone's guess whether you'd actually get the freebie.)
Friendliness of service: 4. Not remarkable, but certainly not unfriendly.
Store interior: 3 The store was clean, but it doesn't really compare to the Irving or Shell station as far as looking new or modern. It's pretty much your stand convenience store — a little dingy, poor lighting and floors in need of a good mopping (or replacement).
Most random item: A Patriots (as in the football team) Santa Clause hat.
