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Back in 1978, the ratio of convenience stores to gas pumps wasn’t 1-to-1. Or at least that’s how Albert Smith remembers it. When he and his wife, Cindy, opened his Ithaca, N.Y., convenience store in June of that year, he included a small sandwich counter but no gas pumps. Today, his Shortstop Deli is a standout in a crowd of fuel stops. Smith has managed to thrive without entering the gas industry, largely thanks to the sandwiches he started with. Of the roughly $2 million Shortstop Deli makes a year, $1.3 million is made via two slices of bread.
