Drive-thru convenience store just opened in Sacramento area. Here’s where and what it sells

Sacramento area residents can now stock up on snacks, drinks and over-the-counter medications without getting out of their cars.

Fire Stop, which opened at 4907 Auburn Blvd. in Old Foothill Farms on Friday, features a fresh concept for North California: a drive-thru convenience store.

Items for sale at the shop, which occupies less than 600 square feet of space, include soda, candy, chips, crackers, cookies and nuts, as well as painkillers and cough medicine.

Co-owners Simone Nash and Sam Perez, who are parents to baby boy Legend, came up with the idea for Fire Stop after spending a year in Perez’s Ohio hometown and seeing how popular drive-thru convenience stores were on the East Coast.

Nash, a Sacramento native, says the business model “makes perfect sense.”

“One of the most amazing things was going to a drive-thru convenience store and not having to get out of my car,” Nash said. “We just wanted to bring that here ...”

Within the next few months, customers will be able to buy tobacco products as well as beer and wine at Fire Stop while keeping their engines running.

Although Fire Stop is currently the sole drive-thru convenience store in the Sacramento area, similar businesses are scattered throughout California, including Flash Smoke Shop in Arden Arcade, Good N Rich Market in San Francisco and Alta Dena Drive-Thru in San Diego.

Drive-thru convenience store opens in Sacramento County

While Fire Stop is in its opening phase, Nash said customers are allowed to drive and walk up to the window “to get a sense of what the store is like.”

“Don’t be scared, Just drive right through,” she told potential shoppers. “If you just have a question, go ahead and ask us.

“I think it will be fun to just sit there and engage with people and get the experience of a drive-thru.”

Customers are not allowed inside the store.

According to Nash, inventory is restocked twice a week. Item requests can be made online or over the phone at 415-917-6501.

Fire Stop will eventually open 24 hours a day, Nash said.

For now, the shop’s hours are 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.

This story was originally published December 11, 2023 at 11:27 AM.