A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store, or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, tobacco products, lottery tickets, over-the-counter drugs, toiletries, newspapers, and magazines. In some jurisdictions, convenience stores are licensed to sell alcoholic drinks, although many such jurisdictions limit such beverages to those with relatively low alcohol content such as beer and wine. Such stores may also offer money order and wire transfer services, along with the use of a fax machine or photocopier for a small per-copy cost. Some also offer to sell tickets or recharge a smart card, like the OPUS card in Montreal. They differ from general stores and village shops in that they are not in a rural location and are used as a convenient supplement to larger stores.
A convenience store may be part of a gas/petrol station, so customers can purchase goods while refuelling their vehicle. It may be located alongside a busy road, in an urban area, near a railway or railroad station or other transport hub. In some countries, convenience stores have long shopping hours, and some remain open 24 hours.
Convenience stores usually charge significantly higher prices than conventional grocery stores or supermarkets, as they buy smaller quantities of inventory at higher per-unit prices from wholesalers. However, customers benefit from their longer open hours, more convenient and greater number of locations, and shorter cashier lines.
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