RICHMOND, Va.—GPM Investments LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of ARKO Corp., is refreshing its fountain assortment in 260 stores across GPM’s family of community brands. Using the latest IRI data, GPM said it will introduce three new regional planograms that reflect customer preferences by geographical market, bringing customers some of their favorite and most popular drinks.
Officially launched last month, the project also includes updated decals across fountain valves and diagnostics runs on existing fountain systems. The project will roll out throughout the rest of the summer.
“We’re excited to bring our customers some of the most popular and refreshing beverages this summer,” said Ruth Ann Lilly, vice president of merchandising and marketing at GPM Investments.
“Our goal is to make sure that, when a customer walks into one of our stores, they can expect to find their favorite drink. This project is one of many initiatives to improve customer experiences in our stores, and we’re looking forward to seeing how our customers respond.”
Cold dispensed beverages, which help drive in-store traffic for convenience stores, took a big hit last year due to the pandemic and COVID-19-related restrictions on fountain operations. According to the NACS State of the Industry Report of 2020 Data, cold dispensed beverages accounted for 7.6% of foodservice in 2020. Average sales per store for cold dispensed beverages dropped 6.1% from 2019. Read more about the subcategory in the June issue of NACS Magazine.
GPM is working on a multiyear remodel and reset project to unify its portfolio of c-stores after a massive buying spree. Read more about the strategy in “Tying It All Together” in NACS Magazine.
GPM Investments is based in Richmond, Va., and operates or supplies stores in 33 states and Washington D.C. As the 6th largest convenience store chain in the country, GPM has about 3,000 locations comprised of roughly 1,400 company-operated stores and 1,625 dealer sites to which it supplies fuel.
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