Shelee’s Travel Centers has opened five grab-and-go locations inside Acrisure Arena in Thousand Palms, California, Gary Fletcher, executive director for travel centers for the The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, which owns Shelee’s, said in an email.
Shelee’s opened its first store, a 12,000-square-foot travel center in Coachella, California, last September. These latest sites, called Shelee's Travel Center Grab & Go, are significantly smaller and cater to the arena’s visitors with a selection of soda, beer and water, as well as ice cream and salty snacks, Fletcher said.
The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, which owns Shelee’s, has been partnering with Acrisure Arena for several years. Its casino arm, Spotlight 29 Casino, became a founding partner with the arena and the Coachella Firebirds hockey team in 2022.
"The Tribe is excited to expand on our founding partnership with OVG/Acrisure Arena to include our newest tribal brand, Shelee's Travel Centers," said Chairman Darrell Mike of the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, in a statement. "We value our partnership and the opportunity it provides to share this unique, high-quality brand with our Coachella Valley community when visiting the arena."
Shelee’s joins a number of convenience store brands opening small locations inside arenas. Wally’s, which operates three Midwestern travel centers, opened a small-format, grab-and-go location, Wally’s + Market, inside the CityPark soccer stadium in St. Louis in March 2023. That site offers pork sandwiches, full chicken, hot dogs, fresh popcorn, beef jerky, fresh-baked cookies, salads and more.
Several larger c-store retailers have also made forays into the arena space. Yesway opened an Allsup’s Express Grab & Go at Texas Motor Speedway in 2023, GetGo Cafe + Market opened in PPG Paints Arena in 2021, and the Los Angeles Dodgers debuted an Ampm in 2015.
