Convenience Store

Convenience stores are small-sized stores that offer a limited range of grocery and other items that people are likely to need or want as a matter of convenience. Most convenience stores are located on busy street corners or in gas stations. Both travelers and locals use convenience stores.
Travelers stopping for gas or for washroom facilities often appreciate the convenience of having food, drinks, reading material and maps available without having to go to a supermarket. Convenience stores are usually open even when supermarkets are closed and usually allow for quicker shopping and service. To compensate for the convenience they offer, the prices are often higher at convenience stores than they are at supermarkets.
Locals are likely to go to a convenience store when their regular supermarket is closed and they need to replace an item such as milk, toilet paper or bread that they run out of in the home. However, many locals also go to convenience stores regularly to buy lottery tickets, magazines and candy. Students often buy cold drinks and snack foods from convenience stores.
Many convenience stores have microwaves for heating up prepared sandwiches, soups, and hot dogs they sell. Some also have coffee and breakfast sandwich specials for morning commuters. A newspaper is sometimes included in these offers. Convenience stores often carry at least some ready-to-go bakery items such as muffins and doughnuts.
Convenience stores are often organized into a few short aisles of candy, chips, and toiletries in the center and glass cases of drinks and frozen foods against the side and back walls. Drink and coffee machines and prepared foods are often together in another area and there may or may not be a deli. The front counters may hold containers of candy and beef jerky. Magazines and newspapers may be available at the front counter and/or at a magazine rack in the store.
There are at least 75 different convenience store chains in North America, 15 in Europe and 30 in Asia. In Taiwan, convenience stores are often used regularly by residents for banking services and bill payments. Convenience stores, like fast food restaurants, are popular not only for the convenience, but also because they tend to focus on getting customers in and out quickly.

Types of Convenience Stores
Various types exist, for example: liquor stores (off-licences–offies), mini-markets (mini-marts) or party stores. Typically junk food (candy, ice-cream, soft drinks), lottery tickets, newspapers and magazines are sold. Unless the outlet is a liquor store, the range of alcohol beverages is likely to be limited (i.e. beer and wine) or non-existent. Most stores carry cigarettes and other tobacco products. Varying degrees of food and grocery supplies are usually available, from household products, to prepackaged foods like sandwiches and frozen burritos. Automobile-related items such as motor oil, maps and car kits may be sold. Often toiletries and other hygiene products are stocked, as well as feminine hygiene and contraception. Some of these stores also offer money orders and wire transfer services. Convenience stores that are near fishing destinations may carry live bait, such as night crawlers or crickets.
The most common type of foods offered in convenience stores are breakfast sandwiches and other breakfast food. Throughout Europe convenience stores now sell fresh French bread (or similar). A process of freezing part-baked bread allows easy shipment (often from France) and baking in-store. Some stores have a delicatessen counter, offering custom-made sandwiches and baguettes. Others have racks offering fresh delivered or baked doughnuts from local doughnut shops. Some stores have a self-service microwave oven for heating purchased food. In Hong Kong, convenience stores even provide lunch and dinner.
In the US, some fast food chains offer a counter in convenience stores. Instead of cooking food in the store, these counters offer a limited menu of items delivered several times a day from a local branch of the restaurant. Convenience stores may be combined with other services, such as a train station ticket counter, post office counter or a petrol pumps. In Asian countries, like Japan or Taiwan, convenience stores are more common because of the higher population density. They are found with gas and train stations, but also can be stand-alone stores. Here, items like soft drinks or snacks are sold. Hot dogs, sausages, hard boiled tea eggs, and fish cake can be found in stores. Delicatessens are absent, instead pre-made sandwiches can be bought. Non-food products like magazines are also sold, but at a lesser extent.

Convenience Store differences from Supermarkets
Although larger, newer convenience stores have quite a broad range of items, the selection is still limited compared to supermarkets, and in many stores only 1 or 2 choices are available. Prices in a convenience store are typically, but not always, higher than at a supermarket, mass merchandise store, or auto supply store (with the exception of the goods such as milk, soda and fuel in which convenience stores traditionally do high volume and sometimes use as loss leaders).
In the US, the stores are sometimes the only stores and services near an interstate highway exit where drivers can buy any kind of food or drink for miles. Most of the profit margin from these stores comes from beer, liquor, and cigarettes. Although those three categories themselves usually yield lower margins per item, the amount of sales in these categories generally makes up for it. Profits per item are much higher on deli items (bags of ice, chicken, etc), but sales are generally lower. In some countries most convenience stores have longer shopping hours, some being open 24 hours.