Giving Independent Operators a Voice

Fifteen years ago, Jigar “JP” Patel, who runs the three[1]store convenience chain Fastime, and three of his friends were “just a few guys sitting around the table” one night, talking about how hard it was to be an independent operator in the convenience industry. “It was hard to compete, given that the large chains and corporations had really figured out the science behind this business,” he said. “They had scale, so it was hard as an independent operator to provide the same level of service to our customers.”

The four retailers decided to pool their resources, combining their stores to form a buying group. “We wanted to create some sort of cost advantage to compete better in the industry,” Patel said.

That buying group became the Strategic Alliance of Affiliated Store Owners of America (SAASOA), a nonprofit organization created to give independent operators the buying power, knowledge and advocacy they needed to compete. The group started with about 25 stores and grew close to 60 by the end of the first year. It now has more than 7,200 members across more than 17 states.

“We were like, ok this is a lot of stores… so we needed to have a framework around it to work for the benefit of everybody,” Patel said. “That’s how SAASOA got started.”

That was almost 15 years ago. How has the organization evolved since its inception as a buying group?

The whole idea at first was to give vendors a dedicated order volume so that we could get better pricing. The main focus was creating a cost advantage. But we realized that a cost advantage alone was not going to raise the level of customer service, the standard of operations or the offerings in our members’ sites. You can have a good price on something, but if the customer experience is not on par, customers are not coming back.

So we decided to invest in education, and that is when the trade show came to be. The trade show has education sessions and keynote speakers in addition to the expo. Because most independent operators are family-run businesses, we also have some family-oriented events as well.

We’ve also leaned into the legislative side at both the state and federal levels. The more educated our members are, the more active and compliant they are.

If a retailer is a member of SAASOA, what does that look like?

There is the buying side, which is our base offering and gives retailers more buying power.

We’ve also invested a lot in technology. We created member and vendor platforms so that there is uniformity between the data that is being shared. It ensures people know exactly what they’re buying, at what price and what the sale price should be.

We are living in a technological age and our members need to be able to adopt new things that are coming to the market. They are going to get left behind if they don’t, so we equip them with tools that can make their businesses more efficient. For example, we have a planogram software that we built for them. They can plug their sets in and see exactly what they can do with the space in their cold vault, in their center store and their backbar, without having to do guesswork.

We also educate our members about how to get into foodservice if they’re not already doing it, how to get on scan data programs, or how to move up the tiers of their loyalty, among other things. We educate them on things that will move the needle.

Independent operators are the largest segment of the industry. How are you empowering them to be better in their businesses, and what impact does that have on the industry as a whole?

Here’s the thing: the effort that goes into running a good convenience store and a great convenience store is almost the same. There is a very small difference. The challenge is keeping yourself updated on what is happening in the industry. What are the new trends? What are customers looking for? What are the new items? And as an independent operator, it’s hard because you wear multiple hats, and don’t always have the time or ability to step outside of your store and learn something new.

We always tell our members: Go to every trade show, meet new people, share best practices … and you will bring back new things into your store.

From attending events and taking international trips, I’ve seen firsthand that when all the stores are on the same level of excellence, everything is better for the customer. It is all of our jobs to pitch in to make this industry better. And we are just playing our part as much as we can.

Continue reading "Shared Success: A Q&A With Jigar 'JP' Patel" in the October 2026 issue of NACS Magazine.