In 1967, Charles and Emerson Frey opened the first Turkey Hill Minit Markets store on Columbia Avenue in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as a way to better market their dairy products. The stores operated as a separate business -
Farmland Industries - with the headquarters in the original store basement. In 1978, they built their second headquarters at 257 Centerville Road in
East Hempfield Township,
Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania. This building was demolished and rebuilt as a new location. It opened in March 2023. On December 19, 1974, the stores won a legal battle overturning the so-called
blue laws that prohibited retailers opening on Sunday, and in 1976, they became the first company to offer
self-service gasoline in
Pennsylvania. "We are seeing healthy new retail competition emerging with brands such as Wawa, Sheetz, and Turkey Hill." In 1998, Turkey Hill opened its 249th store in
Hazleton, Pennsylvania. This store was the first of many stores to open with foodservice offerings. Foodservice offerings included fresh
subs,
sandwiches,
pizza, and many other hot foods. Many new stores are built with foodservice and car washes. Beginning in 1999, new larger stores were opened with more of an emphasis on selling gasoline. About 200 of the 240 stores in Central Pennsylvania have gas pumps. In October 2017, Kroger disclosed that it was considering the potential sale of Turkey Hill Minit Markets as well as four other convenience store brands -
Kwik Shop,
Loaf 'N Jug, Quik Stop, and
Tom Thumb. The sale was finalized on April 20, 2018. The following year, EG America purchased
Columbus, Ohio-based Certified Oil, leading to Turkey Hill's Columbus area locations to be marketed together with Certified. EG America's purchase of
Cumberland Farms shortly afterwards allowed Turkey Hill and all of EG America to sell Cumberland Farms-branded
coffee products. On January 27, 2020,
Burger King opened a location inside a Turkey Hill store in
Cumru Township, Pennsylvania. This marks the beginning of a plan by EG Group to add fast food franchises at several Turkey Hill locations in order to update food service offerings, including
Sbarro at its
Midwestern locations.
Branding changes In 2004, the stores adopted the current signage, featuring a stylized map of the
contiguous United States. EG America's
Kwik Shop,
Loaf 'N Jug, Quik Stop, and
Tom Thumb brands all use the same logo and font, which originated with
Kroger. ==References==