The U.S. Marine Corps’ Parris Island facility is roughly a five-hour drive southeast from Bountyland Quick Stop’s Westminster, S.C., headquarters. That said, new suppliers en route to one of Bountyland’s 11 stores might want to drop by the Marine boot camp and let a drill instructor toss them around for a bit. It’ll spare…
Pizza Inn Teams With Texas C-Store Chain
Pizza Inn Inc. has signed a multi-unit development agreement to open six new locations in the Houston market beginning in late summer 2008, the company said. The Dallas-based Pizza Inn awarded the franchise agreement to Four Star Foods, a subsidiary of King Fuels Inc., of Houston, which operates 40 convenience stores in that state. The…
Shell Transitioning 20 Gas Stations To Nakash
Shell Oil Products U.S. is transitioning 20 of its branded gas stations in the Sacramento, Calif.-area to Nakash Enterprises LLC, the Houston Business Journal reported. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Nakash Enterprises is an affiliate of Vintners Distributors Inc., a California-based real estate development and management firm that already owns 22 Shell-branded…
Pilot Opens New Travel Center in Tenn.
Pilot announced it will open a new travel center in Jackson, Tenn., on May 12. The new, 11,423-square-foot facility features six fuel islands, eight diesel islands, a CAT scale and seven showers. “We hope that Jackson area residents and fleet customers will welcome having our new travel center just around the corner,” said Jimmy Haslam,…
Village Pantry Adds Nine Stores
Village Pantry Inc. has acquired nine convenience stores in central Ohio from Petro Acquisitions, Inc. The stores, formerly operated by AmeriStop Market, will be rebranded under the Village Pantry banner. Each store averages 2,700 square feet and, like most traditional convenience stores, offers quick snack items, lottery tickets, money orders, prepaid cellular and gift cards…
Building a Solid Foundation
The most extraordinary structure is only as strong as it’s weakest link. The same principle applies in business. The higher up the leadership chain that weakness exists the more likely the organization is to crumble. That’s why the companies that are succeeding in the market these days are controlled by innovators that aren’t afraid to…
Tesco Selects Four New Locations
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, the U.S. unit of Britain’s biggest grocery retailer, plans to open four stores in the Sacramento area, according to liquor license applications with the state. The Sacramento locations named in the filings include 3311 Northgate Blvd. and 3615 Bradshaw Road. Two Folsom sites, 25000 Blue Ravine Road and 9522 Greenback…
Always Stay Prepared for the Worst
Several clients have recently challenged us to try to creatively refinance convenience mortgages tied to properties that were acquired over the last several years. These properties were purchased based upon high cash flow multiples of seven times or more–multiples that have become the norm with many transactions around the country. When considered in light of…
Betting on the Franchise
7-Eleven Timeline 7-Eleven Inc. began almost 81 years ago when a Dallas ice dock operator decided to add milk, eggs and bread in response to his customers’ needs. The company’s first expansion outside Texas was into Florida. The retailer entered the franchising arena in 1964 with the acquisition of Speedee Mart, a chain of franchised…
Identifying More Effective Profit-Building Strategies
“In a business like cigars, where unit volume is growing 10% plus year-over-year, emerging strategic thinking in convenience retail suggests that retailers can grow even faster by employing a “price-for-volume” strategy for key products.” David Bishop, partner, Willard Bishop This summer, we examined how convenience retailers could manage the cigar category differently to realize above-market…