By John Lofstock, editor-in-chief, Convenience Store Decisions
The convenience store and petroleum industry has always held a special place in my heart. From growing up working at my father’s gas stations in Mt. Vernon, N.Y. well into my teens, to working at Dairy Mart Convenience Stores in my 20s, to my career here at Convenience Store Decisions, I cherish the relationships I have made and the outstanding leaders I have encountered along the way. This is a business of remarkable people.
The c-store industry is and will continue to be nurtured by the strong relationships we develop and fortified by family-owned businesses with deep ties to the communities they serve. It’s one of the key reasons that all of the government intervention and burgeoning competition are more a speed bump than roadblock.
Such strong relationships have resulted in a unique sharing of information that has helped elevate the entire industry. We should never underestimate just how special that is. It simply doesn’t happen in other retail channels.
At industry conferences, such as the National Advisory Group’s (NAG) upcoming conference, it’s not uncommon to have c-store competitors talking about what it takes to provide outstanding service and drive new business. In fact, in my close to 20 years of covering the industry, I have never heard a retailer badmouth another chain for doing too good a job. The focus is always the hard work it takes to be successful.
“We do things that other industries can’t because we share so much. This culture of sharing means that when we need to, we can mobilize and speak as one,” Jeff Miller, president and CEO of Miller Oil Co., told me. “Overcoming obstacles and coming together to control our destinies, speaking with one voice and getting the job done is what this industry is all about.”
The Road to NAG
Throughout May, I had the opportunity to tour convenience stores in Ohio, Tennessee and Texas with Randy Fulkerson, the former president of Huck’s Convenience Stores who has become a good friend and confidant that I can lean on to learn what really goes on behind the scenes.
Randy and I visited quite a few chains for a video we will show at the NAG conference. At each of these chains, we visited old friends, made some new ones and received universal support from all the folks we encountered. It was a tremendous experience that encapsulates what NAG is all about.
NAG is an association of small to mid-size and family-owned convenience store chains and the executives that run them. The goal of the annual conference is to allow retail leaders to exchange ideas with the motivation to improve their business performance. This conference exists simply to help convenience store retailers improve, and the proof is in our participants.
This year’s conference in September will feature speakers from more than a dozen convenience store chains that excel in all areas of operations. These chains include the likes of Kwik Trip, RaceTrac, Thortons, Speedway, Daily’s Ricker’s, Wallis Oil, CST Brands, Mapco, Fabulous Freddy’s, Zarco 66 and more. This is one tremendous lineup you cannot afford to miss. You can view the entire NAG Conference agenda at www.nagconvenience.com.
Plus, while the educational sessions promise to offer you a host of ideas to grow revenues and cut costs, the foundation of NAG remains its world-class Informational Exchanges, which allow retailers the opportunity to connect with other non-competing retailers in an intimate setting that is conducive to learning new ideas and fresh perspectives.
We are so convinced that you will leave the NAG Conference energized with information that we will even offer you a money-back guarantee if you fail to identify one or two new ideas that you can take back to your company and implement immediately to be more profitable. It’s a remarkable guarantee intended for the remarkable people that make up this wonderful industry.