High's Opens Flagship Location as 60th Store

BALTIMORE — High's opened a new flagship convenience store for business on July 18. Located at 11260 Dolfield Boulevard in Owings Mills, Md., it is also High's 60th convenience store in the Mid-Atlantic region.

As the flagship location for the High's brand, the 5,000-sqaure-foot store  features a range of updated technology options, such as self-checkout, mobile ordering, frictionless payment and touchscreen ordering for food.

Customers can choose from a wide variety of High's signature items in the kitchen: hand-breaded chicken, handmade pizza, hand-dipped ice cream and an expanded area for hot and cold dispensed beverages.

The convenience store has 12 fueling positions. Additionally, a state-of-the-art Carroll Clean car wash, the first of its kind, is scheduled to open there later this summer. The car wash will also have a large car vacuum area outside, which will be free to car wash customers.

The new flagship store is located in the Red Run Commerce Center, which is managed by Merritt Properties, and will serve as its anchor.

"High's is a tremendous local business and employer that shares Merritt's commitment to the communities in which we build," said Whit Levering of Merritt Properties. "We are excited to have them anchor Red Run Commerce Center and are looking forward to our partnership as we continue to welcome more companies to this new business park."

High's held a family and friends celebration event the weekend before the location opened in order to preview the store and offer limited menu samples. More than 200 employees and their loved ones attended.

The convenience store operator expects to hold a grand opening celebration on site in the coming weeks. The all-day event will feature a ribbon-cutting and sundae-building contest. Multiple vendors will be on site to offer product sampling alongside the High's team.

High's previously launched a store optimization and revitalization project in 2019, as Convenience Store News reported.

The retailer is known for its regional, craveable Mid-Atlantic fare such as crab cake sandwiches, along with its featured Farmhouse sandwich, rib sandwich, spicy chicken sandwich, chicken burritos and more. Its breakfast lineup features the High's country smoked bacon breakfast sandwich or burrito, the Mighty Meal, the Rapa Scrapple egg and cheese sandwich, and more.

The brand has partnered with a local specialty restaurant supplier to ensure it buys local and provides quality food, not "entry level" food, according to Dallas Wells, vice president of foodservice at High's. Its foodservice team's menu innovation filters include:

• Flavor and spice;
• Better-than-fast-food quality;
• Exclusivity/being the only brand to offer something;
• Ease of assembly and speed in the kitchen;
• Packaging for on-the-go or "dashboard dining"; and
• Below 35 percent food cost.

The High's brand was established in 1928 as an ice cream chain. At one point, Baltimore-based High's was the world's largest ice cream retailer with more than 500 locations across the Mid-Atlantic. In 2012, Carroll Independent Fuel acquired the company and decided to leverage its rich heritage for a community-focused approach to convenience retailing. Today, High's 60 convenience stores aim to serve their communities with a fresh-food offer, low environmental impact and a safe, welcoming and inviting atmosphere for both employees and customers.