The convenience chain that has eyed Wawa as its competitor is creeping north from Maryland.
Royal Farms convenience stores are continuing an aggressive push into New Jersey eight months after opening their first store here.
The Baltimore-based franchise that features convenience items and fried chicken on a real estate footprint that resembles a gasoline station minimart on steroids, now has four stores open and six more either in the planning stage or under construction, according to the company and public records.
All of the Royal Farms locations in New Jersey are on busy traffic thoroughfares. The first store opened in November on the White Horse Pike, Route 30 in Magnolia and featured a 24-hour event starting at midnight. Since then, locations have opened in Bellmawr, Gloucester City and East Greenwich.
The pace of the expansion is so fast that some locations are not listed on the company’s “Coming Soon” queue on its website — including in Evesham, at Route 73 and Sunbird Drive; in Moorestown, at Route 38 and Fellowship Road and in Mount Laurel, at Route 38 and Larchmont Boulevard, all in Burlington County. A location in Winslow, Camden County, at Cross Keys and Johnson roads has also broken ground. All of these sites were confirmed by municipal planning officials.
Included in the coming soon locations on Royal Farms’ website are Voorhees, 600 block of Haddonfield-Berlin Road and Clementon, 1400 block of Blackwood Clementon Road.
Royal Farms officials did not comment on the expansion despite multiple request last week through phone calls and emails to do so. A request for comment this week to SCG advertising and public relations agency, which represents Royal Farms, was also not immediately returned.
The stores appear to be well received in most areas but some residents near a proposed location on Route 38 and Fellowship Road in Moorestown campaigned against it on social media last week.
How N.J.’s newest convenience store Royal Farms stacks up to Wawa
Moorestown township manager Thomas Merchel said the site proposal for the facility has been submitted but a hearing has not been scheduled yet. He said the site may need a zoning variance to operate.
The Route 73 and Sunbird Drive location in Evesham still needs a final site plan approval, but the builders have already been granted requested variances in a preliminary proposal, a township planning board official said Wednesday. The variances include parking setbacks of 28 feet on Route 73 and 15 feet on Sunbird Road where 50 feet are required on both roads, said the official, who declined to give her name, citing public record.
The Evesham store will be 5,191 square feet and include a separate, free-standing 19,200-square-foot building zoned for retail use on a 7 acre lot, the official said.
The location in Winslow, a 4,637-square-foot store will be built on a 2.58 acre lot. A local official said it is highly anticipated.
“We are anxious and eager to see it get built,” said Deborah Wells, the township planning board secretary and zoning officer. “We’re excited about the development.”
Royal Farms’ primary super-convenience store competitor, Wawa, has nearly three times as many locations as Royal Farms from New Jersey to Florida.
Royal Farms has more than 200 existing locations, mostly in the mid-Atlantic.
The company’s latest promotion, Chicken Palooza, features free chicken for a year for four grand prize winners. The contest runs through the end of August.
The chain also topped a recent list from Food and Wine magazine of top “10 Gas Station Foods Across the Country That Are Worth the Detour.”
Royal Farms features indoor and outdoor seating areas and standard convenience items like soda, milk and water. It also features its own line of snack items, such as Chesapeake-flavored potato chips, nuts and fresh-baked items.
Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips
New Jersey Food and Dining