Haunted Hometowns

Some cities just seem to attract ghosts. Good thing there are c-stores to help!

Halloween’s only a month away, but if you’re a c-store operator you knew that. You’ve been seeing orange and black for a month (at least), and moving significant amounts of Halloween-themed merchandise in the process.

The extended Halloween season is such a part of the American calendar that names like “Summerween” and “Augtober” have entered the retail food industry’s vocabulary. So, in light of this trend, we’re going to start early, too. This SSCS Halloween post is about haunted towns and haunted cities, which, when you think about it, really transcend the time and season, anyway.

So how does a city get a reputation for being haunted? Well, most of the time it’s because of a powerful mix of historical significance, cultural beliefs, personal experiences, and storytelling. We’ve included some examples and, as a public service, we’ll include one c-store for each, a place where visitors can take a refreshing break from being chased by ghosts.

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah definitely looks like a haven for ghosts. Some of the buildings dating from the early 19th century are somewhat dubious in appearance, but it is the city’s sprawling oak trees, hanging heavy with Spanish Moss, that really set the tone, creating a mysterious mood synonymous with the city. The Bonaventure Cemetery is said to echo with ghostly laughter, as ghost dogs roam between tombstones. The Mercer House, Pirate’s House restaurant, and 17Hundred90 Inn are reputed to be haunted, too

For a refreshing break from being haunted: Fancy Parker’s, Parker’s upscale c-store brand, matches Savannah’s atmosphere by conducting business out of a building built in 1899.

New Orleans, Lousiana

New Orleans and voodoo go together in the public mind, and the practice seems to made this a popular place with visiting haunts, including the ones you’ll find at the LaLaurie Mansion and Hotel Monteleone. Those places are just a start, though, as there are enough ghosts in New Orleans to support several tours devoted to them. The city’s above ground graveyards are pretty creepy, too.

For a refreshing break from being haunted: Verti Mate, a store integrated right into the French Quarter, offers a rather amazing variety of merchandise given its rather compact space.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

The somber atmosphere of a famous Civil War battle pervades Gettysburg, but the town next to the battlefield is a quaint snapshot of what city life was like during the mid-19th century, especially in its Historic District. As you might expect, afterlife sightings of some of the 51,000 fallen in battle are frequent. The Jennie Wade House, Sach Covered Bridge, and Gettysburg College are just a handful of the 14 most haunted places in Gettysburg.

For a refreshing break from being haunted: Earlier this year, Royal Farms opened a brand new store in Gettysburg.

Salem, Massachusetts

Okay, Salem’s witchy history is front and center in the minds of most people— the Salem witch trials took place here back in the late 17th Century—and the town has molded itself around those events in a rather friendly way, becoming a tourist attraction in the process. Don’t be fooled however. Salem is filled with ghosts, as tours like these indicate—and visitors and residents frequently report experiences such as unexplained noises, cold spots, and sightings. Plus some street signs have witches flying with brooms on them, which is pretty cool.

For a refreshing break from being haunted: Down the road in Marblehead, which has its own reputation for otherworldly stuff, you’ll find the versatile Marblehead Village Market, which places Foodservice front and center. Oh, and shout out to Circle K Salem!

While most c-store owners don’t operate out of haunted stores, they do face down pretty spooky stuff, like margin erosion and shrink. Thankfully, good technology, like SSCS’s Computerized Daily Book, can chase away scary things like inefficiency, allowing your store to profit and thrive free of fear. If our software sounds like something you’d like to know more about, who you gonna call? Well, that would be us, at (800) 972-7727.