About Us

Founded in 1969 by the Turner family of Turner Dairy and William Draper (former manager of acquisitions at H. J. Heinz), Handee Marts, Inc. became the second area licensee of 7-Eleven, Inc. (f/k/a The Southland Corporation).

Our first store was opened in April 1969 in Penn Hills.

During the early years, Handee Marts, Inc. was under the guidance of L. D. Chappell, General Manager. Mr. Chappell was a fifteen-year veteran of The Southland Corporation prior to joining Handee Marts, Inc. Handee Marts, Inc. grew one store at a time (3 to 4 per year), with internally generated cash and meager borrowings until 1977.

At that time, Handee Marts, Inc. had twenty-five stores, ten were operated by franchisees and, other than Greensburg and Indiana, were concentrated in Allegheny County. Four stores offered gasoline on commission marketing agreements.

Handee Marts, Inc., acquired 28 7-Eleven Stores from 7-Eleven, Inc. in 1983. We have operated retail convenience stores as corporate stores, and we have offered franchises for the operation of retail convenience stores.

Our stores are extended-hour retail convenience stores that emphasize convenience to the customer and provide groceries, take-out foods and beverages, gasoline (at some locations), dairy products, non-food merchandise, specialty items and incidental services. Our stores are generally open every day of the year and are in neighborhood areas, on main thoroughfares, in shopping centers, or on other sites where they are easily accessible and have parking facilities for quick in-and-out shopping. Our stores are generally 2,400 to 3,100 square feet in size and carry 2,300 to 2,600 items. All of our stores are open convenient hours, most of which being 24 hours a day, to service the needs of our customers. They attract lunch-time customers, early and late shoppers, weekend and holiday shoppers and customers who may need only a few items at any one time and desire rapid service.