Royal Farms to Expand in York County

YORK, Pa. – Commuters who live here and work in Baltimore may have influenced the Royal Farms chain of convenience stores to open more locations in the county, according to a report by the York Daily Record.

"We hear people who live in York but work in Baltimore say they love us, and would like to see more stores in York County," Ed Stronski, Royal Farms' marketing manager, said in an e-mail to the paper.

These residents are in luck, as York's city council recently approved the Baltimore-based company's land-development plan to build a new store, including a car wash and gas pumps. The company also plans to build a store in Wrightsville, adding to its two current stores, one of which is located in Dover Township and opened in May, and the other is in York Township, and opened in 2006, the report stated.

The company touts its "fresh, never frozen" chicken, subs "made on rolls baked fresh right in our stores" and plans to seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for all its south-central Pennsylvania stores as distinguishing it from other area convenience stores, according to the report.

The growth in this area has been a long time coming. Plans for Royal Farms in Wrightsville have been in the works since at least 2005, according to Daily Record archives. The store is scheduled to be built sometime in 2011, Stronski said in the report, noting its Dover Township store took longer than planned, too.

Still, the company's "consumer research shows that York County and the surrounding areas are some of the high-growth areas in the Northeast with lots of potential which make it a perfect fit for our own company's growth," Stronski said.

One York county competitor, Rutter's Farm Stores, welcomes the new challenge, President Scott Hartman told the paper.

"We compete against 100 convenience stores," Hartman said, "so it will just be one more."

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