Thorntons Turns Its New Foodservice Focus to Chicagoland

CHICAGO — Thorntons Inc. is opening its first foodservice-focused convenience store in the Chicago area, and it won't be the company's last. 

The store at 2095 East Algonquin Road will welcome customers starting at 6 a.m. March 4 and features a grab-and-go kitchen and hot prepared food.

This is just the first in a series of new Thorntons stores to open in Chicagoland that are focused on making the c-store chain a food and beverage destination. 

Breakfast, lunch and snack items will be prepared fresh on-site every day. Highlights of the breakfast menu include hot sandwiches, such as a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit; a ham, egg and cheese croissant; and a bacon, egg and cheese burrito. Breakfast is served until 10:30 a.m. daily.

Lunch options include pepperoni pizza, cheeseburgers, a Buffalo ranch chicken burrito, crispy chicken tenders and golden Tater Bites. Fresh, hot snacks include soft pretzels and cheese bread sticks. 

Along with these new hot food selections, customers can enjoy fresh fruit, gourmet deli sandwiches, yogurt parfaits and a variety of salads and wraps.

For those with a sweet tooth, the new Chicagoland store also includes a full bakery case and an ice cream bar with a variety of toppings, including Butterfinger crumbles, M&M'S and Oreos. Thorntons receives daily deliveries of fresh bakery items such as doughnuts, pastries, cookies and more. 

Thorntons recently supported its chainwide food-focused efforts with a Feb. 1 media event at its Louisville, Ky. support center, where guests were invited to taste around a dozen items from its menu, reported Insider Louisville. Attendees also sampled a breakfast burrito that will roll out chainwide this month after a successful six-store test.

Food sales have risen 70 percent in remodeled stores, Thorntons officials stated during the media event. 

Louisville-based Thorntons operates 184 convenience stores in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Florida.