Although the store had been open and running since December 16th, 2019 on Friday, January 26, the Applegreen company opened its doors to the public in a grand opening event for their flagship store located at 491 Calef Hwy, Barrington NH. Applegreen is an Irish corporation, with over one hundred convenience stores/gas stations in the United States. Inside this branded store you'll find a Burger King, an Applegreen convenience store and a Mobile gas station with 5 islands (totaling 10 pumps), and two fast diesel pumps in the back.
This is the flagship store in which the Applegreen brand is being launched in the United States. This means that the Burger King isn't franchised out. Applegreen owns the franchise inside the store. This means that the convenience store isn't leased out. Applegreen owns it and manages it. It means the gas station is owned by Applegreen as well. When you're going to the store located at491 Calef Hwy, Barrington NH you're supporting the Applegreen Corporation - which stands for integrity, community and giving back.
The outside of the store featured a DJ for the day, free coffee, goodies and snacks, and gasoline at 1.99 per gallon. Inside the store, they had an End 68 hours of hunger raffle. The goal was to raise at least $2,000 that day to go to the Barrington chapter of End 68 hours of hunger. The local store was well represented, and there were people from the corporate branch as well – to facilitate the day, and to assure that everyone was well trained and responsive.
The building is well designed, fits within the community, and is set back from route 125, with plenty of space for access and parking. Burger King is located at the far left of the building, and there is a drive-through – located at the back and side of the building. Inside, the store is well put together. It is pleasant to be in. There is tile on the floor and plenty of space between the aisles. The stands aren't too high so you can see clearly around the store. There is a nice variety of convenience items, not just your run of the mill chips, but several different varieties in both large and snack portion bags. There's a great coffee island with an on-demand coffee machine as well as pre-made pots of coffee, plenty of options for the coffee diva and the cup of joe on the run folks too. Everything is done with excellence. There's three refrigerator units of beers and a wine-rack as well. Bags of ice are conveniently located in the freezer section inside of the store. You can find pretty much anything you could use at 10 o'clock at night.
At the open house, there were several people from corporate there. Their message was clear, Applegreen is in the community to stay and plans on looking for ways to give back. In Ireland, the Applegreen company has given over four million dollars to local charities and truly believes in investing in the local community. Currently, they are looking for any local teams that need sponsorship in the area, that they would like to pay for t-shirts and signage and do the promotion that they can do for a local team.
There are changes coming to Barrington, but if they're all done with excellence then they're going to help our community grow. This new business is already brought 30 more jobs into our town. Barrington is a bedroom community with no public transportation this is a positive change. With only a few major employers in town, it's beneficial to get some mid-sized ones in.
