RaceWay rolled out its new-look gas station and convenience store in Covington Thursday, as the U.S. Highway 278 location officially opened after a fire gutted the store in May 2010.

The 3,500 square-foot store is the first of RaceWay's new model of stores, with the most evident feature being the larger size and brick façade of the convenience store.

New owner Raj Rajyaguru said the store has larger coffee and deli stations as well as a separate walk-in, beer case cooler room. It also has room for a mini fast-food restaurant, but a tenant has not yet been secured.

The location has seven pumps with a total of 14 pump stations. The station would have had 28 pump stations, but there wasn't sufficient room given the presence of the CSX railroad behind the store, Rajyaguru said.
He said the store also had environmentally-friendly aspects such as low-energy LED lights.

Before burning down, RaceWay would have price battles with the popular QuikTrip just west on U.S. 278, with one of the stations often one cent cheaper. Rajyaguru said he will try to keep the price the lowest in the area. This is the second RaceWay station owned by the Stockbridge resident.

The RaceWay chain is owned by RaceTrac Petroleum. RaceTrac convenience stores are company owned and operated, while RaceWay stores are leased to a third party operators, according to the company's website.

In other business news, construction is progressing at the new Taco Bell location on Ga. Highway 142, between Wendy's and Wells Fargo in front of the Aldi.

Construction should be completed in early October with the tentative opening date of October 17, said Taco Bell Construction Manager David Bohanon in an email.

The overall construction cost, excluding the purchase of land, was around $1 million, Bohanon said.