Nov 15, 2005 By Joyce Koballa 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – A city grocery backed by the slogan “We give you more” is doing just that for its customers with the addition of a fuel station on site. The Shop N’ Save Fuel Express, located along Memorial Boulevard, celebrated its grand opening Saturday, joining the ranks of several other local grocery chains designed to provide customers with one-stop shopping.

During the day, gas prices hovered between $1.89 and $1.99 per gallon while over 10,000 gallons of gas were sold.

Rich Siefert, who jointly owns the store and fuel station with his brother, Tim Siefert, said customers were very receptive to the opening with some purchasing gas for less than $1 a gallon with their purchases.

Rich Siefert said the move was necessary in order to stay competitive.

“I feel a gas station at the grocery store will be just as common as an in-store bakery or deli in the next five years,” he added.

According to Siefert, customers would still use the Rewards card for fuel perks that previously earned them S&H Green Points redeemable for store and catalog purchases

With the card, Siefert said customers can earn “Pump Perks” in one of three ways just by spending a minimum of $5.

For every $5 they spend in the store, the Rewards card will provide customers with 1 cent off per gallon of gas for up to 15 gallons; up to 27 cents off per gallon for purchasing specially-marked items in the store or by purchasing 10 featured weekly items that can earn them “Super Pump Perks” amounting to 10 cents off per gallon.

Rich Siefert said the items included in the Super Pump Perks consist of highly consumable items such as potatoes and pop all marked with a yellow fuel pump, although there are 1,500 other items in the store also marked with yellow fuel tags. The exception is tobacco and milk products that are excluded from the program.

Compared with other local grocery stores that offer similar fuel savings, Siefert said he used a different method for gas purchases so Shop N’ Save could pass the savings onto the customers without making them spend hundreds of dollars on groceries for large fuel discounts.

For example, Siefert said a customer that spends $60 could end up saving roughly 90 cents per gallon of gas.

“It’s a high bread system of items and total market basket,” said Siefert.

Siefert said he and his brother broke ground on the fuel center in September while the pumps opened to the public on Nov. 8.

Shop N’ Save Express is equipped with six pumps and a small convenience store and is open 5 a.m. to midnight.

“One good thing is that it lowered all the fuel prices in Connellsville,” Rich Siefert said of the opening.

According to the Sieferts, the closest Shop N’ Save stores to offer such fuel perks are located in Pittsburgh and Hermitage.