Dive Brief:
- Pump & Pantry is expanding its partnership with sandwich QSR Quiznos to an additional six locations, the companies announced on Wednesday.
- The Nebraska-based convenience retailer first partnered with Quiznos in 2022, opening four “highly successful” co-located restaurants, according to the announcement. All six new stores are expected to open by the end of 2026, bringing the deal’s total to 10 locations.
- These sites take advantage of Quiznos’ gas and convenience site design, which was developed for smaller footprints where a full restaurant wouldn’t be feasible.
Dive Insight:
Quiznos joins a number of QSRs seeking growth through furthering existing partnerships with convenience stores. In just the past couple months, Good 2 Go announced it was adding Rusty Taco to an additional seven of its stores, while Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores revealed it would add three more Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill locations.
Pump & Pantry’s first Quiznos site opened in Kearney, Nebraska, in 2022, with the rest of the original sites opening in 2023 in Columbus and Grand Island.
Quiznos has been a c-store partner for years. Its presence was severely diminished after its 2014 bankruptcy — it dropped from almost 5,000 locations to around 400 — but it’s making inroads in c-stores again under owner Rego Restaurant Group, which acquired the chain in 2018.
Rego turned to the convenience channel to test its first ever combined Quiznos and Taco Del Mar at a Sunshine Gasoline Distributors site in Florida last year. Taco Del Mar was also bought by Rego in 2018.
In addition to Quiznos, Pump & Pantry has made franchise agreements with Cinnabon, according to the convenience retailer’s website. Customers can also buy pizza, burritos, ice cream and more at select locations.
“At Pump & Pantry, we are constantly looking for ways to increase convenience to better serve our customers and communities through new concepts and offerings,” said Charlie Bosselman of the Bosselman Enterprises, Pump & Pantry’s parent company.
This agreement is part of Quiznos’ larger growth plans. The company has opened six stores in the past year, with a goal of opening at least nine more sites by the end of 2025, according to the announcement.
Pump & Pantry operates 48 convenience stores throughout Nebraska.
