ALEXANDRIA, Va.—For the past three years, NACS has encouraged retailers to spotlight the good being done in their communities through the 24/7 Day initiative.
“We know that our operations are 24/7, but we often don’t talk about things beyond just the convenience that we provide,” said Stephanie Sikorski, NACS vice president of marketing and director of the NACS Foundation, during this week’s Convenience Matters, “24/7 Day: Thanking Everyday Heroes.”
“Thank goodness that our stores are the fabric of communities, and that we have 24/7 operations. Whether it’s a snow storm or a hurricane or a wildfire, because our stores are across the U.S. and centralized to those communities, it means that first responders have parking lots to set up shop and water and access to gas to be able to get to those sometimes-remote communities to do what they do,” Sikorski said.
Any retailer can join NACS on 24/7 Day. “We are the megaphone for the industry and the work that they’re doing in communities every day,” said Lindsay Buchanan-Puig, marketing coordinator for NACS. “They are able to come on with us and participate at no cost at entry-level.”
Buchanan-Puig reminded retailers to think beyond the usual fire and rescue personnel. “One participant is including electric lineman in the offer because the retailer has a lot of hurricanes in the area and it’s very important to have electricity, [and] that’s not something that we might have considered,” she said.
In 2018, 24/7 Day launched with three retailers: Sheetz, Wawa and RaceTrac. In 2020, the program grew more than 500% with more than 18 different retailers participating across more than 20,000 store locations. “It’s amazing to be able to say thanks and recognize heroes across the U.S.,” Sikorski said. “I don’t know [any] other industry that has this [type of celebration] from an industry standpoint.”
Each week a new Convenience Matters episode is released. With more than 280 episodes to choose from, the podcast can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play and other podcast apps and YouTube and at www.conveniencematters.com. Episodes have been downloaded more than a quarter million times by listeners around the world.
To take part in 24/7 Day, get involved by visiting Convenience Cares to learn more.