A Brief History of the Convenience Market Phenomenon
The Southland Ice Company is credited with the birth of the convenience store in May 1927, on the corner of Twelfth and Edgewood Streets in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, Texas. "Uncle Johnny" Jefferson Green,
who ran the Southland Ice Dock in Oak Cliff, realized that customers sometimes needed to buy things such as bread, milk, and eggs after the local grocery stores were closed. Unlike the local grocery stores, his store was already open 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, so he decided to stock a few of those staple items. The idea turned out to be very convenient to customers.
From this humble beginning would stem an industry that in retrospect actually
began "instant gratification." These small markets were known by
various names before becoming convenience market generic. A few examples are, of
course, the ice house, this stemming from pre-refrigerator days, the mom
and pop store, the dairy store, the drive-in grocery, and its
later cousin, the drive-thru grocery. Whatever they were called, these
stores offered then and offer today convenience. Why would
someone spend a little more for the same item offered a few blocks away in a
supermarket? "CONVENIENCE". No standing in lin
e, quick-in,
quick-out, ba-da-boom, you’re done. And while you’re there, you may pick up
nightcrawlers and various other bait if the store is located close to water.
Fishing tackle, to some degree, is also offered along with ice chests, barbecue
grills, charcoal, petroleum products, aspirin, and in many locations, hot dogs,
sandwiches, frozen drinks, and many other items that are convenience fast
foods, not to be confused with convenience groceries.
The mini-mart has evolved into too many species to list here, but consider
the newest trend: The Hyper-Convenience Market. Get your car filled up, lubed,
and washed, your hair cut or styled, your dry-cleaning done, your shoes
repaired, and all of your office copying done under one roof on a street corner
somewhere. And while you’re waiting, it’s not just doughnuts and coffee you’re
scarfing down but imported pastries (a Highway Patrol favorite) with your coffee
latte in any one of 2,604 flavors. Can the dentist office be far behind?
This remarkable industry has been sparked entirely by the American love affair with the automobile, which in turn gave us suburbia. Suburbia gave birth to the mom and pop store. In the beginning they were the only ones out there until the population grew enough to warrant supermarkets.
The diversity of the goods offered in
convenience markets mirrors the diversity of our country. I have found East
Indian groceries, Korean groceries, 
Filipino groceries, you name it, it’s out
there somewhere in the convenience store community, in those neighborhoods that
reflect a large ethnic presence. And the industry is growing by billions of
dollars every year. The small stores are in no danger from the big stores, even
though some of the big stores have implemented small sections carrying the same
convenience grocery items you’ll find at 7-Eleven. The magic phrase here is dart-in,
dart-out. The smaller stores still offer that special convenience we have so
grown to love.
The recipes I have created and display in my cookbook are prepared totally from items purchased in convenience stores across this great country. The recipes presented in this collection do not use those specialty ethnic ingredients found in an occasional store; rather, they use items commonly found everywhere but presented in a very uncommon manner.
On this site, but most especially within the covers of the cookbook we dispel the myth that canned goods are for cretins. More about that later. Explore on, eat on, and enjoy.
A.B. "Robbie" Robbins
The Convenience Market Gourmet