From Demolition to Destination: Building Revenue by Tearing Down

This interview is brought to you by Cenex.

Winning the trip isn’t about being the closest stop anymore. For years, fuel and convenience alone were often enough to earn the stop, but today’s customers expect more. They’re looking for quality food, broader merchandise, inviting stores and an experience worth making the stop for.

According to a 2025 NACS consumer survey, more than 82% of surveyed American adults said they would drive five minutes out of their way to visit a gas station they like more. That means your biggest competitor isn’t always the nearest store. It’s the one that customers decide is worth the extra drive.

“For retailers, the challenge isn’t simply keeping up with changing expectations. It’s determining which investments actually create a store customers choose over the competition,” said Gary Braaten, director of retail development at Cenex®.

Looking across five years of retailer investment performance, Cenex found a clear trend: while remodels can improve a store, the strongest long-term business results consistently came from raze and rebuild projects.

For Missouri-based Eagle Stop, the decision to start over wasn’t about replacing aging stores. It was about creating locations designed for the way customers shop today.

The company’s most recent project in Camdenton, Missouri, shows why. Located near the Lake of the Ozarks, the site serves both local residents and a steady stream of weekend visitors. But the previous store was not designed to fully capture those visits. Limited space constrained merchandise, restricted offerings and made it harder for the business to keep pace with customer expectations.

Eagle Stop knew the opportunity was there. The remaining question was how to move forward with the right investment.

That’s where the Cenex LIFT program came in. By combining low-interest financing, principal balance contributions and preferred vendor discounts, LIFT gave Eagle Stop the flexibility to pursue a raze and rebuild rather than continue investing around the limitations of the existing store.

“Too often, retailers know exactly what their business needs, but cost forces them to think smaller,” said Braaten. “LIFT gives them the flexibility to evaluate the opportunity based on long-term potential, not just upfront cost.”

Since 2020, Cenex has paid nearly $11 million in interest on behalf of retailers, helping operators pursue larger, higher-impact investments while preserving capital for other business priorities.

Continue reading “Building Revenue by Tearing Down” in the August 2026 issue of NACS Magazine.