Appalachian communities have lower access to healthier food sources like grocery stores. Through semi-structured interviews with owner/managers of convenience stores in Appalachian communities, this qualitative study explored perceived roles and business practices of small food retailers using a grounded theory approach. Five themes emerged including strong relationships between stores and customers, the role of the store in community, food and beverage stocking decisions, store owner/managers' perceived demand for healthier options, and federal food assistance program participation. The themes provide insight to store owner/manager perspectives on community-focused and business-focused priorities in Appalachian convenience stores and can inform healthy retail interventions.
Keywords: Appalachia; convenience store; healthy food retail; store owner; supply chain.