With this partnership, Mansfield will assist Greyhound as it researches and determines new locations for its agents within a conveniently located store off an active [image-nocss] highway or interstate exit rather than within a city-center.
The companies are currently evaluating 85 locations for relocation with many more to follow.
"As our national demographics have changed, the need for affordable and convenient public transportation outside of the city center has increased," Mansfield vice president of retail sales and operations Rick Cosmer said. "For Greyhound's customers, this partnership puts agent counters at the convenience store right off the highway making bus travel more accessible than ever before. For our retail convenience store customers, it's providing the opportunity to serve an additional 200 to 600 customers per day. The potential increase for in-store sales offers substantial growth in gross profits for each location."
Mansfield has a sales team in place dedicated to seeking and developing new Greyhound sites with the potential for several hundred locations nationwide.
"The Greyhound-Mansfield partnership is incredibly beneficial for everyone involved," said Pete Patel, owner/operator of SR 82 Truck Stop in Tifton, Ga. "It helps bring in more than 300 customers to our location daily and the majority of those riders are spending $6 apiece in our store. They're able to relax, have a drink and get something to eat. It's made the Greyhound experience more enjoyable for the riders and I've seen an increase in in-store sales of at least 25% to 30% on merchandise and 30% to 35% on food. It's a win-win situation."
Greyhound has been an icon of American travel for almost 100 years. With more than 3,800 destinations across North America, the company hopes to capture an even larger audience with new buses and more convenient locations offered through the partnership with Mansfield.
A leading provider of end-to-end fuels and fuels services, Gainesville, Ga.-based Mansfield has served customers in the retail c-store business since 1957. Leveraging Greyhound's 18 million riders per year, this partnership will drive a new generation of customers to participating retail locations, the companies said.
Mansfield is the only energy company with the capability to consult on and implement this type of partnership nationwide, it said. Through its Preferred Vendor Services program, Mansfield provides individual c-store operators the buying power of a large store chain. A few of the vendors included in this program are Coca Cola, Chester's Chicken, Nathans's Famous Hot Dogs and grocery programs like Core-Mark and US Foodservice. The Greyhound-Mansfield partnership will offer store operators world-class consultative services on top of built-in customers through Greyhound's ridership, it added.
Dave Leach, president and CEO of Dallas-based Greyhound, said, "As the largest provider of intercity bus travel, Greyhound is constantly looking for innovative ways to improve the customer experience. Mansfield has the strong retail relationships that we needed to complement our nationwide reach. This partnership provides us with a growth strategy to provide greater access to communities that may have limited transportation options."
Operators adopting the Greyhound program also have the option of adding a fuel supply agreement for gasoline and diesel and have the opportunity to offer renewable fuels such as E85 and biodiesel as well as alternatives such as compressed natural gas. Mansfield's solutions allow retailers to create a cohesive branding message from the fuel in the ground to the food on the shelves. The company offers seven major brands as well as its own brand, Solo.
Using more than 900 supply points nationwide, Mansfield provides store operators with the access to its unprecedented fuel supply network as well as in-store expertise. Greyhound's area managers and Mansfield's territory marketing managers will also provide stores with ongoing operational support to handle the growing Greyhound ridership and to improve the overall profitability of a c-store.
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