Check out some photos of Rutter€™s when they started - and visit nacs50.com for more vintage photos and a timeline of important industry events.

ALEXANDRIA, VA - Convenience stores came into their own in the 1970s; suburban sprawl, the growing size of grocery stores and the increasing number of women in the workforce all factored into the rapid increase in stores across the country during that decade.

Rutter's Farm Stores is one such example - as dairies owned by grocery stores began to become more common, the family-owned, Pennsylvania-based dairy that began in 1921 transformed their business into a convenience store in 1968 and used it as an outlet for the dairy€™s output. Today, Rutter€™s Farm Store€™s has 56 stores and has continued to adapt to changing industry conditions.

As Carl Bolch, Jr., former Chairman of NACS, said at the NACS 40^th Anniversary celebration, the convenience and fuel retailing industry has "grown, and changed, and taken dozens of unpredictable turns along the way."

Celebrate With Us
We€™re celebrating our 50th anniversary this year, but we wouldn€™t be here without you! Share your photos, videos and memories of the convenience channel and we'll add them to our photo and video galleries. Visit nacs50.com/participate for more information.