By: Jennifer DeWitt | September 23, 2026
From QCBJ Article
A startup Midwest convenience store chain — with a solid footprint in both the Quad Cities and Cedar Rapids — is turning the c-store industry’s model on its head.
InConvenience Inc., headquartered in Chicago, is the parent of The Gas Spot and The Goods Spot stores dotting Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and now Texas. From its high-energy CEO Tiffany Fraley and her women-led team to the stores’ atypical warm and cozy decor, branding and a strong community and neighborhood focus, this is a c-store chain delivering more than food and fuel.
Right in its mission statement, InConvenience says it is “focused on providing convenience to customers, opportunities to employees and support to communities through innovative approaches and unwavering convictions, all while maintaining a sense of humor and humility.”
On a recent hot August day, Ms. Fraley and key team members were in west Davenport inspecting the fruits of their labor — the chain’s first Gas Spot to complete a full rebranding and remodel.
Located at 3129 Rockingham Road, the store is among two groups of c-stores for which InConvenience has taken over operations and is infusing them with its new Gas/Goods Spot brand. The Davenport stores, former Kwik Shops, had switched over to Sinclair before their previous operator abruptly closed them in the fall of 2023.
“We love being able to give a location, a service and just another choice back to the people that it was taken away from originally,” Ms. Fraley said of InConvenience’s revival of the once distressed stores. “It’s another opportunity for employment. It’s another way for us to be involved in communities because we look at gas stations as kind of the heartbeat of every community.”
According to Ms. Fraley, the updates made in west Davenport are planned across the chain. “We’re going to roll out the rest as time and funds are available. This Rockingham store was completely closed, so that made it easier to come in and do a total remodel.”
In addition to seven stores in Davenport and one in Eldridge, InConvenience has four Corridor locations, three in Cedar Rapids and one in Hiawatha.
The young startup chain traces its start in Iowa to the bankruptcy of former operator Mountain Express. Today, “G-Spot” — as the chain’s leaders call it — now spans a total of 29 stores in four states and employs 127 workers.
Spinoff of InCommercial
Ms. Fraley brings 20 years as a commercial real estate broker to the new company and her CEO role. In fact, she was chief operating officer of InCommercial Property Group — a sister company owned by Erik Conrad — when they launched InConvenience. InCommercial is a full-service real estate fund manager, property manager and asset management company with locations nationwide.
“We did the big properties, things like Dollar General, Walgreens … and then we got into purchasing gas stations,” recalled Ms. Fraley. “About two years after purchasing our first 10 properties in Missouri and Arkansas, we purchased these 15 in Iowa.”
Experienced in real estate but not the c-store business, she said, “We were [thinking], what are we going to do with 15 locations that the operators are telling us they are no longer going to operate?”
Rather than secure new tenants, Ms. Fraley partnered with majority owner Mr. Conrad, a California native now living in Chicago, to create InConvenience.
“We dug in and understood what had been happening with these locations. If we don’t just really take this into our hands, we may end up in a similar way,” she said.
So in February 2024, InConvenience was born. The intent was “opening these stores back up, operating them, really setting forth a structure, a culture and a place that people could rely on — not just the customers, but the employees.”
It grew a foothold in Missouri and Arkansas after c-store operator SQRL (Squirrel) went bankrupt.
Firsthand experience
“I’d never worked in a convenience store, so one of the first things I did was get a job in a gas station to get experience [at another company’s c-store],” Ms. Fraley said. “You get that firsthand knowledge, and it is very humbling and eye-opening.”
Listing the number of licensing requirements, regulated processes along with other management tasks, she said, “I just think the business itself is not given the credit for how complex it is, how many moving parts there are. And then that’s just what’s inside the store. Then you’ve got fuel, which is a whole other business in itself.”
Having worked those frontlines now, she added, “Then we expect people to have a smile on their face, especially on the days when maybe someone else isn’t having such a good day.”
After assembling a nearly all-female corporate team, back in the stores she said, “we placed people we could rely on,” including former employees who knew the operation and markets.
Myrna Meier brought 14 years of experience running the Davenport c-stores, and now as Davenport district manager she has a title that reflects her reach and impact. Having worked across the stores previously, she sees customers are coming back and liking what they see.
“We’re improving. We’re getting better and better,” she said while visiting the west Davenport Gas Spot. A Quad Citian, Ms. Meier praised her new employer, InConvenience, for its level of communication, the store investments and a willingness to try new approaches, including creating a customer reward program.
Welcoming, modern style
That first revamped store sports a decor very atypical in its industry. It is the design handiwork of InConvenience Brand Director Alicia LaFollette, a graphic artist who was the environmental retail store designer for Walgreens before coming on at InConvenience’s start.
She recalled the early-day discussions the team had about “how do we want to stand out? How are we going to look different?”
“We researched the competition and the industry,” she said. In fact, a Google search landed them on their brands, The Gas Spot and The Goods Spot. Of the G-Spot moniker, Ms. LaFollette said, “It’s cheeky, but we have a good sense of humor.”
Ms. LaFollette said the goal was creating a chic, warm and cozy environment, particularly after learning 52% of c-store customers are women. “We wanted key words that were warm, friendly and inviting,” she said. The color palette of dusty blue, gold and cream eventually will be in all its stores.
The G-Spot name runs through all its in-store branding, including The Gulp Spot, The Gathering Spot (in-store seating), The Grocery Spot and The Gear Spot. “A big key tenet of our values is playfulness,” she added.
As each store gets refreshed — and in many cases adds or expands its kitchens to broaden food offerings — InConvenience also is paying close attention to the neighborhoods’ own history.
The CEO reflected on learning from city leaders how Rockingham was its own region in Davenport before being annexed. “We actually bought this map — that showed old Rockingham — at a little vintage place down the road. That shows they are very proud of the Rockingham corridor here.”
Bold lettering spelling out “HELLO ROCKINGHAM” on the wall, she added, shows “we’re excited to be here.”
While each store will have some individualization, she said they want an atmosphere where customers know what they’re walking into. “You want to be able to say ‘this is our mission, these are our values.’ And we want that to resonate through every store you walk into,” she said.
As the stores get rebranded, “you do see a ‘hello’ to the city name or to the neighborhood name (like Rockingham),” she said. “It’s very important that we understand where we’re operating, and just to call out because it is a special neighborhood.”
Lindsay Griffith, the store chain’s marketing and community engagement manager, said community involvement and partnerships also are key to InConvenience’s values and success.
Knowing how its new customers had lost a longtime Hy-Vee in west Davenport, InConvenience included a new kitchen at Rockingham to expand its ready-made food menu.
“Community engagement is a big priority for us,” Ms. Griffith said. Since arriving in Davenport, it has sponsored the Central High School football team, the West High School dance team and a Davenport youth football team, and recently delivered appreciation gifts to Davenport school teachers.
Looking ahead
While more stores is naturally the company’s goal, Ms. Fraley said, “We are strategic and cautious in doing that because we want to make sure, one, that we’ve got our current operations under control, and that we have our training process in place.”
InConvenience also wants to be choosy in where it expands. “We would love to continue to find opportunities in the states where we already are operating … But then, as we look at new markets that we’re not in, if we’re able to pick up three or more (stores) at a time, it makes it easier to manage those. Because having one store — in a state that we’re not in — is difficult.”
But its growth comes as the number of independent operators continues to decrease.
“There’s a lot of consolidation going on right now,” Ms. Fraley said. “There’s 150,000 convenience stores in the United States, and most of them are small operators. But they’re getting purchased by the bigger guys.”
Speaking of guys, with a nearly all-women leadership team, she chuckles at how she constantly is asked, “Do I hate men? I’m like, ‘absolutely not.’ But that is something else different about us. It is still definitely male-focused [industry], especially on the fuel side.”
But Director of Fuel Nicole Majkowski “could change a [gas pump] nozzle and a filter with the best of them,” Ms. Fraley said. “It’s pretty impressive to see her in action.”
But the question she shudders to hear is “What is your five-year plan?”
“It is hard to project five years from now. Five years ago, I would not have said how we [the real estate company] would be operating in gas stations. But the opportunity is immense.”