Daily's Stores Making a Dash Into Foodservice

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Daily's convenience stores will expand into foodservice by remodeling stores to add the Dash fast-casual restaurant concept, according to a report by the Jacksonville Business Journal.

Parent company First Coast Energy LLP opened the first Dash restaurant at a new-build store located near the Baymeadows Road and Interstate 95 interchange in Jacksonville. The retailer plans to remodel seven stores to include Dash by the first quarter of 2014.

Dash offers breakfast sandwiches, made-to-order coffee specialty drinks, lunch sandwiches and salads.

"The difference maker for us is it's fresh, it's made to order," said Director of Foodservice Robert Fallon. "We make food as we need it."

Customers place their orders at touchscreen kiosks inside the store. Most lunch options sell for about $6.99, and several gluten-free options are available, according to the report.

"It's got a mass appeal," First Coast Energy President and CEO Aubrey Edge told the news outlet. "[We've] priced extremely competitively with any sandwich place, so we want to be able to compete with that segment. But we think we've carved out a nice niche inside a convenience store, which again, gives you an element you wouldn't necessarily expect."

The cost of the first store remodel will be approximately $500,000, but the cost for other remodels will change depending on the location, Edge said.

First Coast Energy has 200 gas stations and c-stores throughout Florida.