Bringing Community to Your Store

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—On this week’s episode of Convenience Matters, “A Conversation with Don Rhoads,” NACS hosts Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives, and John Eichberger, executive director of the Fuels Institute, discuss how to create a community with your stores with Donald Rhoads, president and CEO of The Convenience Group and NACS board member.

“We all have stores in different communities and every community is unique,” Rhoads said. “Our stores have been in our communities for many years. … These stores all represent the background where they reside.”

Rhoads reflected on how much the industry has changed in the three decades he’s been in it. “We’re working on initiatives today that I never thought would be part of our game plan, but as the industry has evolved quickly, we’ve had to be proactive with our decision-making process,” Rhoads said.

One example Rhoads gave was the evolution of the Minit Mart in Fruit Valley Village, Washington, which has grown into a community hub with a credit union, food pantry and superette-grocery store. “We sell a lot of fruits and vegetables, and fresh food,” he noted. “We’re also the largest craft beer small format retailer in Washington state. … [This store] articulates the community.”

Rhoads also pointed out that “I’m in business to make money like everyone else, but at the end of the day, we’re there for one reason and one reason only—because of our communities.”

Each week a new Convenience Matters episode is released. The podcast can be downloaded on iTunes, Google Play and other podcast apps, and at www.conveniencematters.com. Episodes have been downloaded by listeners more than 110,000 times in 90 countries.

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