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‹ INSIGHTS  |  RETAIL BETTER BLOG

Convenience Store Design Trends 2026: Foodservice, Rebrands & Fuel Retail Growth

February 24, 2026 by Margaret Sotrop – As spring approaches, we’re mapping out our 2026 3000 Mile Store Walks and reflecting on the convenience store design trends shaping performance across the category. Store walks reveal how brand strategy, customer experience, and operational efficiency converge inside high-performing retail environments.

Across markets, a clear pattern is emerging: performance gains are no longer coming from isolated remodels or incremental upgrades, but from coordinated strategies that align foodservice, brand clarity, and store design into cohesive retail systems.

Scalable Foodservice as a Growth Driver

Scalable foodservice continues to redefine convenience retail performance. In Illinois, the Hatch Chicken rollout demonstrated how QSR concepts can scale without sacrificing operational flow or brand clarity. As retailers expand fresh and prepared offerings, foodservice design strategy has become central to store performance.

Part 1: Convenience Store Design Trends 2026: Foodservice, Rebrands & Fuel Retail Evolution

Rebrands That Reinforce Brand Equity

In New York, Crosby’s introduced updated interiors and improved layouts that strengthened brand storytelling and operational flow. Todays rebrands must align design, merchandising, and messaging — not just aesthetics. Strategic retail rebrand and merchandising execution ensures brand clarity translates to performance.

Fresh Food Expansion in Fuel Retail

A new-to-industry RaceTrac in Central Florida highlighted the evolution of fuel retail into food-forward convenience. Balancing traffic flow, speed of service, and fresh food visibility requires integrated retail environment planning and execution.

Retailers who recognize this shift early and align strategy with execution stand to differentiate not just their stores — but their brand relevance in a rapidly evolving category.

In Part 2 of our 2026 Convenience Retail Outlook Series, we’ll explore how digital merchandising, experiential retail, and promotional strategy are shaping what comes next for high-performing operators.
 

Our Brand Story

GSP started as a printing company in1978. We found our niche supplying in-store signage for convenience stores when retailers guessed quantities they needed. This led to overage, waste and expense. To solve this, we developed software to guarantee on-time delivery of “the right size sign, to the right store, every time.”

In 2014, we started AccuStore with a dedicated team. As software helped drive our growth, we realized that new printing and fulfillment sites near customers could drive business and improve sustainability. We acquired companies that fit GSP’s technical excellence and superior customer service models.

First was Great Big Pictures in Madison, WI in 2015. They lead the field in large format printing and visual merchandising for iconic fashion retailers. Their standards for customer service include award-winning sustainability programs, and expertise to bolster retail environments services.

In 2020, GSP acquired Custom Color in Lenexa, KS. The company supplies printed graphics to leading retailers. Custom Color’s stellar quality in fabric printing also aligns with GSP’s values.

GSP provides branding and marketing services with a focus on site-specific execution to help transform our customers’ growth strategies into store-level success. We design retail environments to engage shoppers and provide superior customer experiences. AccuStore powers our retail marketing, execution and digital display technologies and ensures stores get only what they need. GSP is a forward-thinking company that’s here to serve retailers now, with a focus on their future.

GSP delivers graphics and digital marketing to over 75,000 retail locations. Our experts provide retail branding and marketing services, focused on site-specific execution. Our methods ensure stores get only the POP they need, at the lowest cost. Our Retail Environments team creates and deploys amazing, in-store shopping experiences.