Convenience Stores Offer More Choices

In addition to traditional fare, more c-stores are evolving their business models to incorporate more upscale and healthier food offers.

October 24, 2017

CHICAGO – “Long known as late-night outposts of roller hot dogs and greasy pizza, convenience stores now also want to sell you healthier food, preferably lots of it,” writes the Chicago Tribune, adding that this shift was on full display during last week’s NACS Show.

“What began as a few bananas by the cash register is now a full-blown movement aimed at selling healthier fare to consumers and millennials, in particular,” writes the news source, citing practical reasons for the industry’s shift. As noted in a NACS Magazine feature, “Breaking Out of the Cokes, Smokes and Gas Mentality,” the c-store industry is ripe for change, suggests Gray Taylor, executive director of Conexxus. “Otherwise, what’s the differentiator? Most convenience stores sell the same stuff with the only difference coming from location. We must do something that makes us totally unique."

Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives at NACS, told the Tribune that the industry is in a state of “constant evolution. If you think today’s model is going to work, you’re done.”

At last week’s NACS Show, the Tribune noted that companies like Terrafina, which produces nuts, dried fruit and trail mixes, began selling its products to convenience stores in small plastic tubs that fit into cup holders and discovered a relative goldmine. “C-stores are looking for alternatives to tobacco and soda and gas,” Paul Miller, Terrafina’s vice president of sales, said. “C-stores are definitely more of a growth opportunity than grocery stores.”

During the NACS Show expo last week, first-time exhibitors like Soylent, a meal replacement beverage, were touting the health benefits of protein. “Protein is the new energy,” Lenard said, noting other products like up-scale beef jerky from companies like Tyson, Conagra, Kraft and Perky Jerky.

The Tribune noted that some convenience stores are taking the foodie movement beyond packaged foods, citing Chicagoland retailer The Pride Stores, which recently hired a corporate chef and incorporated restaurant concepts like Urban Counter and Taco Urbano into some of its stores.

Pride Stores owner Mario Spina told the news source that times have changed from when his father ran the business. “Last year, we went three months where we lost money on fuel. You can’t rely on that. We have to have other avenues where we can make decent revenue and decent profit margins,” he said.
While the industry is constantly evolving, retailers who will continue to thrive are those who are embracing the change.

“The simple answer is to give people exactly what they want, when they want it,” writes the Tribune. “And while the healthier fare will get more shelf space, the more indulgent items will continue to have their place for American consumers on the go.”

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