WINNER: Oak Grove Market

Oak Grove Market offers customers a spacious marketplace and foodservice destination with an upscale design.

Best New Store Design Award

Located in Prairieville, La., Oak Grove Market is a new-to-industry 6,000-square-foot convenience store that opened its doors in April 2022.

CStore Decisions is recognizing Oak Grove Market with a “Best New Store Design Award” recognition for its upscale design, complete with a drive-through, a strong foodservice presence and ample guest seating inside and out.

“I guess you could call it a hybrid,” said Gregg Patterson, who co-owns Oak Grove Market along with business partner, Ben Bercegeay.

The business owners partnered with design firm Paragon Solutions to create the store design.

“The store is half homemade, upper-scale marketplace, half convenience,” Patterson said.

Patterson and Bercegeay also own and operate two Pit Stop convenience stores.

Oak Grove Market is located on a high-traffic road, and although it’s not positioned adjacent to a stop sign or traffic light, the location still attracts attention; the store gets new customers every day.

The building is primarily white and trimmed in brown oak. The forecourt with five Exxon-branded dispensers is situated on the side of the store. The store includes a large parking lot for guests.

“We didn’t put (the gas pumps) across the front because that’s not what I wanted people to see first,” said Patterson.

The c-store also boasts a drive-through, where customers can order any item available in the store. Customers can also choose curbside pickup and order online through the Toast app.

At the drive-through, the store has one threebarrel Icee machine and a fountain machine in addition to one on the store floor.

If customers choose to spend more time at Oak Grove Market, they can sit at a table on the outdoor patio. A large glass garage door opens and allows the patio to flow directly into the interior, where guests will find two large wooden community tables with bar stools as well as bench seating. The location features around 60 seats, including both interior and exterior seating.

“We’re proud of it. It’s a beautiful place,” said Patterson.

A Food Focal Point

The heart of Oak Grove Market is Grub at the Grove, where the store implements its own food program. The area features a white tile background with a teal accent.

Grub at the Grove houses a brick oven that cooks pizzas, wings, rotisserie chickens, rotisserie ribs, homemade bread for sandwiches and more.

The menu features eight specialty pizzas, with toppings such as homemade pulled pork or smoked sausage, as well as 13 wing flavors. Oak Grove Market also recently started offering homemade chicken salad, as well as salsas. The store also offers grab-and-go items displayed on black gondolas.

Patterson envisioned Oak Grove market as a foodservice destination more than a traditional convenience concept. “It was more of ‘Let’s go eat at Oak Grove Market.’ That’s what I was hoping for.”

A Spacious Layout

The floors at Oak Grove Market are made of natural concrete, and the ceiling is black and adorned with barn lights that hang down, illuminating the store.

Aside from Grub at the Grove, Oak Grove Market includes a fountain drink section as well as a walk-in beer cooler that holds many local craft brews.

The fountain machine sits on a countertop inside a large brown display. Beside that are the three-barrel Icee machine and six Frazil taps. On the other side of the fountain drinks, an iced tea display stands out against a grey and black patterned wall.

Customers have the option to enjoy a cup of coffee from four different bean-to-cup machines, with three different flavors of beans per machine.

The store also offers a large wine selection with 60 different wines, which are merchandised in a few large wooden crates as well as in the store’s large open-air cooler — the bottom row is filled with white wines. A fourfoot-by-four-foot rack displays red wines.

“We have a lot of specialty cabinetry up front,” said Patterson. A lot of the displays at the front of the store hold produce and other seasonal items.

“It’s an operation, there’s no doubt. But it’s just taking a little time to grow, and it is growing. … because it’s a little bit different,” Patterson said. CSD