Coming Soon: Jolley Stores Around Vermont Will Become Stewart's Shops
Stewart’s has budgeted $70 million in the coming year for building new stores and upgrading the newly acquired Jolley locations.
After years of maintaining a modest presence in southern Vermont, Stewart’s Shops is signaling a major expansion in the Green Mountain State — and the move could more than triple its footprint.
The Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-based convenience store and ice cream chain currently operates just 10 stores in Vermont, all located in Rutland and Bennington counties. These include locations in Rutland City, Bennington, Manchester, Fair Haven, Poultney, Arlington, and Pownal. At its peak, Stewart’s had five stores in Rutland City alone, though that number dropped after a 2007 closure of an underperforming location on West Street.
Despite Vermont’s limited role in the company’s history, that’s about to change. In 2024, Stewart’s announced the acquisition of Jolley Associates, a Vermont-based convenience store chain with 38 stores across the state, along with fuel operations through SB Collins. The deal gives Stewart’s an immediate footprint in northern Vermont — a region where the company previously had no presence — and marks a strategic shift into new markets like Burlington, St. Albans, and other northern communities.
Company executives have made it clear this isn’t just a rebranding effort. Stewart’s has budgeted $70 million in the coming year for building new stores and upgrading the newly acquired Jolley locations. The company says the plan is to first rebrand Jolley stores in the southern half of the state and then push northward.
“We’ve been watching this market for years,” said Stewart’s President Gary Dake in a company statement, calling the Jolley acquisition a rare opportunity to enter Vermont more broadly with a strong local partner.
If the plan is fully realized, Vermont could soon go from 10 Stewart’s Shops to nearly 50 — and possibly more, as the company looks to build new locations beyond the Jolley conversion. That would represent one of the most significant expansions by any convenience store chain in Vermont in recent years.
The move comes as part of a broader regional growth strategy by Stewart’s, which now operates more than 360 stores across New York and Vermont. The Jolley deal also gives Stewart’s its first entry into New Hampshire, further signaling its appetite for growth through strategic acquisitions.
For longtime Vermonters, Stewart’s return to expansion might feel like a homecoming. For everyone else, it could mean more maple milkshakes, coffee, and comfort food — with a distinctly upstate New York flair — coming soon to a corner near you.