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Local Convenience Store, National Chain 'Partner Up'
STRUTHERS, Ohio -- Where Youngstown borders this former steel town at Midlothian Boulevard and state Route 170, the business corridor is a blend of the old and the new, relatively new chain stores and longtime local retailers. Add to this mix a new blend -- the Sami Quik Stop at 2115 E. Midlothian Blvd. partnering with Dunkin’ Donuts -- and the stage is set for Tuesday’s groundbreaking.
“It’s a marriage made in heaven,” proclaims Sam Rafidi. “This will bring new customers to this intersection that we’ve never seen before.”
Rafidi, who’s “involved in about a dozen [Sami Quik Stop] stores,” operates RSR Property Group LLC, developer of the $1.8 million project that will expand his store here to 5,500 square feet and build an 1,850-square-foot Dunkin’ Donuts next door.
As Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee Bryan Stolte tells it, he and Rafidi were discussing “partnering up” under one roof. “Then we decided if we broke it up and made it into two stores, it would have greater appeal,” Stolte says.
“It’s really going to dress up the corridor here and make a big difference,” Rafidi adds.
With a bulldozer parked in the vacant lot where the old Silver Mirror restaurant stood 20 years ago serving as a backdrop, Rafidi, his son Sam Jr., Stolte and Mayor Terry Stocker lifted shovels and smiled for the cameras.
Said Stocker, “It’s a great day for the city of Struthers. It’s a perfect fit for this location because people can get in and out of this location through two different entrances.”
The expanded Sami Quik Stop will include “double drive-through lanes,” Rafidi says, “a larger deli, more hot foods and some unique beverages.”
The Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant, the eighth store Stolte will operate in the region, should be operating by September, he says, adding 40 full- and part-time jobs to his company’s staff of 300.
Before becoming a Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee in 2006, Stolte was a corporate director of operations for the parent company. "We bring a lot of value to the community and we also give back a lot of value to the community," he says. "We're involved in children's hospital, walks for muscular dystrophy and many other charitable activities."
The Struthers Dunkin’ Donuts is among the 400 new stores Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. plans to open this year. The parent company, based in Canton, Mass., has set a goal of doubling its footprint to 15,000 stores in the United States.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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