Vacant Buford Highway Corner Could Receive New RaceTrac

Atlanta-based RaceTrac recently submitted plans to the City of Chamblee for the construction of a new fuel center and convenience store on Chamblee Tucker Road at Buford Highway.  The new RaceTrac would be built at 2443 Chamblee Tucker Road in place of what was many years ago a portion of the Kelley Toyota dealership.  More recently, there were plans to turn the parcel into Viet Town Center, an Asian oriented business, that never materialized.  Currently, the site sits vacant.  

Most new RaceTrac locations look like the above store 

The parcel, which city documents indicate is just over 3.6 acres, would be developed into an approximately 5,400 square foot convenience store with 16 fuel pumps and 40 parking spaces.  

When contacted for comment, Liz McIntyre, Communications Manager with RaceTrac, said of the company's plans: "We are currently seeking permits and approvals on this site."

The RaceTrac proposal, like the nearby McDonald's ToNeTo Atlanta reported on last week, will be heard by Chamblee's City Council at their regularly scheduled meeting October 12.  A decision on the proposal is expected October 17.  

About two miles away, at the corner of Dresden Drive and Clairmont Road, RaceTrac is underway with another new location that McIntyre tells ToNeTo Atlanta is expected to open in December.  

Elsewhere in metro Atlanta, RaceTrac is in the planning stages or under construction with new locations in Marietta (2), East Cobb, Atlanta and McDonough.  

The Marietta locations, Burnt Hickory Road & Whitlock Avenue and 840 Church Street, are expected to open in the first and second quarters of 2018 respectively, according to McIntyre.  

The McDonough store, planned for the intersection of Jodeco Road & Patrick Henry Parkway, is expected to open in the second quarter of 2018.  

RaceTrac locations planned for East Cobb (Roswell Road & Old Canton Road and Atlanta (Bolton Road & Marietta Boulevard), which represents a relocation, are both still in planning stages according to McIntyre. 

RaceTrac currently has over 85 stores in Georgia. The company's new store prototype features a Swirl World frozen dessert station as well as a larger, more expansive coffee area.

RaceTrac rival, Tulsa, Oklahoma-based QuikTrip has a number of re-builds and relocations underway in metro Atlanta as well as a few completely new locations.  

QuikTrip is actively working to rebuild their Sage Hill area location on Briarcliff Road that they closed earlier this summer.  The new location will be larger, on roughly the same parcel of land, and is expected to re-open in mid-late November.  QuikTrip is also building a new location in an outparcel of Northeast Plaza on Buford Highway in Brookhaven.  The new gas station and convenience store, like the expanded Sage Hill location, will feature the company's "Gen 3" design with an expanded convenience store among the more notable updates.  The new Brookhaven location will replace the smaller, older QT across the street.  The new QT is expected to open in mid-late December according to Mike Thornbrugh,  Manager of Public & Government Affairs for QuikTrip.  

In Norcross, QuikTrip is underway rebuilding their previously demolished  store into a new, larger, "Gen 3" gas station and convenience store at the corner of Oakbrook Parkway and Indian Trail Road.  The New Norcross location is expected to open by mid-December according to Thornbrugh.  

QuikTrip is also under construction with a completely new location on Howell Mill Road on the Westside.  As ToNeTo Atlanta previously reported, the location was met with substantial neighborhood push-back, but finally started construction earlier this year.  Thornbrugh indicates that this location is on track to open in late December.  

QuikTrip also recently started site work  on a new gas station and convenience store at 5795 Jimmy Carter Boulevard in  Norcross.  The new 5,773 square foot gas station, a "Gen 3" location, will replace the current QuikTrip across the street.  The new QT replaces a former Pier 1 Imports retail store and is expected to open in the first quarter of next year. 

Later this month (October 17-20), NACS, the National Association of Convenience Stores, will hold its annual convention in Chicago.  The convention, which rotates cities and was last year in Atlanta, showcases the latest and greatest in c-store technology as well as food and beverage offerings, among other things.

What is the weirdest thing you've seen offered for sale in a convenience store?  What one product or category of product would you most like to see added to convenience stores?  If given the choice and if the price was the same, would you patronize Costco, Kroger, BP, RaceTrac or QuikTrip for your fuel needs?

Please share your thoughts below.     

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