Gri-zy's

  

Gri-zy's

Type	Private
Industry	Convenience store Gas station Fast food
Founded	1978 (1978)
Founders	Maurice Barry II
Headquarters	Fort Travis, Kings, K.S.
Number of locations	50
Products	Fuel, convenience food, etc.
Website	http://www.gri-zys.com

Gri-zy's is a Sierran chain of retail general stores and gas stations with locations in Kings, Central Valley, Santa Clara, San Joaquin, the Inland Empire, Clark, and Maricopa. It is headquartered in Fort Travis, Kings. Its stores and gas stations are located along major roadways such as highways. Gri-zy's locations are known for their large stores and multiple gasoline pumps. The Gri-zy's location in Oildale is the world's largest gas station in terms of gasoline pump count, which includes 96 gasoline pumps, as well as a 80,000 square-foot convenience store. Most Gri-zy's locations offer between 18-32 gasoline pumps and a convenience store with large selections of food and drinks. A number of locations also feature self-service car washes.

The Gri-zy's gas station chain has developed a loyal customer base and has been rated as one of the top retail stores in terms of customer satisfaction and reviews. All of its stores are company-owned and the company has resisted franchising its operations. As of 2022, there are ongoing plans to expand its operations into the Southwest Corridor and other parts of the Styxie.

History

The first location for Gri-zy's opened on September 2, 1978 in New Trenton, Kings by Kings native Maurice Barry II. Barry named the store after the grizzly bear, one of the national animals of the Kingdom of Sierra that has been extirpated within the country since the early 20th century. It opened its second store in Tehachapi, Kings and was the first store to feature an oversized convenience store. The popularity of both locations along the heavily traveled K.S. Route 58 allowed Barry and the company to expand its operations to other locations in Kings.

Inside a Gri-zy's location in Sierra City, Kings

In 1989, Gri-zy's opened its first store outside of Kings in San Felipe, Inland Empire. In 1994, it opened its first store in the Styxie Heartland in Madera, Santa Clara. After significant expansion in the Fort Travis metropolitan area, the first Gri-zy's in the San Francisco Bay Area opened in Saint Andrews, Santa Clara. In 2004, it opened its largest location in Oildale, Kings. The store features 96 gas pumps with fuel and diesel, 1,100 parking spots, 90 toilets, 160 urinals, and 100 fountain dispensers.

In 2004, Gri-zy's began testing on-site concept restaurants that offered limited tableside service. In 2006, Gri-zy's discontinued the service and focused on improving its large line of convenience food and fast food. In 2010, Gri-zy's unsuccessfully lobbied to partner with the Kings Department of Transportation as an official licensee at select rest areas.

In 2012, it announced plans to expand into the Gold Coast and had plans to open its first location there in Fremontshire. Its plans were met with resistance by local environmentalist groups due to concerns that construction and subsequent operations would threaten endangered species of reptiles, insects, and birds in the area. The company abandoned its plans to expand into the Gold Coast and opted to continue opening more locations in the Inland Empire.

Products and services

Fountain drinks and slushies sold at Gri-zy's are branded as Chug-zy's and Ice-zy's respectively. Most locations offer any size ranging between 32-ounce to 64-ounce drinks. Certain locations have offered larger drink sizes, including 1-gallon ones, which have been described by Sierra Critic food writer Kevin Dai as an "absolute, diabetic shock-inducing nightmarish zeitgeist that is proof about everything wrong in corporate Sierra". All locations offer at least 4 different flavors, as well 3 additional, promotional flavors which are rotated bimonthly.

Gri-zy's food selections include trail mix, protein bars, beef jerky, nuts, candies, pastries, instant noodles, salads, sushi, burgers, pizzas, tacos, enchiladas, burritos, hot dogs, and hot boxes. It also sells alcohol, cigarettes, and vapes. In Kings, due to provincial regulations, age-restricted products including alcohol, are sold in separate, walled-off sections of the stores. Most locations offer on-demand BBQ meats selections, as well as vegan alternatives. Through licensing agreements, a number of Gri-zy's most popular branded products, including Roc-zy's (flavored corn puffs), have been sold at third-party supermarkets.

Notable branded products include the edible gag item, "Gri-zy's Logs", which are large chocolate bars with assorted nuts and rice cereals that have the appearance of feces and "Roadkillers", long ropes of spiced, processed meat resembling fermented sausages.

The majority of Gri-zy's store locations offer self-service car washes. A select few locations offer hand car washes staffed by full-time car wash attendants.

Apart from food and beverages, Gri-zy's stores sells a variety of merchandise including clothing apparel, furniture, sports equipment, books, magazines, periodicals, garden equipment, potted plants, cleaning supplies, over-the-counter medications, grilling and cooking equipment, contraceptives, batteries, and greeting cards. A number of locations are licensed to sell firearms and firearms-related gear in separate sections of the store.

Advertising

A roadside Gr-zy's advertising near Fort Travis, Kings

Gri-zy's advertises its stores through billboards and word-of-mouth from its customers. The company has routinely purchased roadside billboards to display its advertisements, which often include humorous taglines and distance markers to attract customers. Its advertisements have generated media attention and controversy, with some of its advertising described as "tacky" or "crass". Most roadside advertisements inform drivers that they are within 1-50 miles of the nearest Gri-zy's location.

Controversies and lawsuits

In 2007, Gri-zy's filed a lawsuit against Kings-based Bearly Gas over its logo which depicted a bear cub that also wore a hat, accusing it of copying Gri-zy's own logo.

In 2009, it sued a local Santa Clara-based convenience store (Roadside Mart) for copyright infringement. Roadside Mart used a logo that depicted a meerkat with a top hat and also sold products branded similarly to the ones sold at Gri-zy's.

In 2010, a civil suit was filed against Gri-zy's alleging that the company was not properly compensating employees for overtime hours. It was court-ordered to pay over $20 million in damages to affected employees and was fined an additional $10 million by the Elliot County Superior Court.

In 2015, a store location in Lake Ponzu with over 60 employees voted to unionize with the Federation of Food, Commercial, and Retail Workers. Workers had cited long hours, low wages, lack of worker-desired benefits, and poor management for unionizing. The company had hired a union-busting law firm to stop the unionization drive. A pro-union online social media campaign and solidarity from other labor unions led to national attention and media coverage. In 2018, workers at three other stores in Santa Clara and one in Central Valley became unionized.

In October 2021, a Gri-zy's location was ordered closed by the Santa Clara Department of Public Health for failing to enforce a public health order requiring businesses to verify that all in-store customers have proof of being fully vaccinated for Coronavirus disease 2019. Another location in Santa Clara also faced a forced shutdown as a result of lax enforcement.

See also

• List of convenience stores