EL DORADO, Ark. -- Making good on a promise made earlier this year, Murphy Oil Corp. has been busy building and opening new locations throughout the United States, particularly in the Southeast and Mid-South regions. Company officials reported this week that it has opened 15 stores—including six Murphy USA sites and nine Murphy Express sites—since the beginning of August.
Earlier this year, after Murphy Oil Corp.'s growth outside Wal-Mart stores slowed from as many as 340 sites in 2006 to as few as 55 this year, Murphy stepped up construction of it own c-store concept—[image-nocss] Murphy Express—designed as a separate, standalone offering from its Murphy USA/Wal-Mart sites, as reported in a CSP magazine report earlier this year.
Aimed at high traffic locations preferably near but not on the same site as a Wal-Mart store, Murphy Express features a modest c-store up to 2,400 square feet—small by industry standards, but a decent step up from the 250-square-foot kiosks seen at most Wal-Mart sites. Each site also boasts an average of 12 multi-pump dispensers.
"There are a lot of areas where Wal-Mart, for whatever reasons, they don't have enough room in their parking lot, or they don't own the land, so we just can 't get on their parking lot," Paul Wells, Murphy's vice president of retail operations, said earlier this year. "So we just build close to them."
The newest Murphy Express stores opened in Springdale, Ark.; Moultrie, Ga.; Denham Springs, La.; Booneville, Miss.; Spring Lake and Zebulon, N.C.; Dillon, S.C.; and LaFollette and Winchester, Tenn. The newest Murphy USA sites are in Sherwood, Ark.; Wimauma/Ruskin, Fla.; Lebanon, Ky.; Aurora, Mo.; West Point, Miss.; and Mount Olive, N.C.
"[Murphy Express is] still small, just a really basic offering," Wells said. "If you look at the model, they're very efficient, very inexpensive to build. And the biggest thing out front is a gigantic price sign."
This is a change from the Murphy USA sites, where fuel-price signage is relegated to the canopy and Murphy branding is minimal.
The company plans to open 35 Murphy Express sites in 11 states this year, compared to 25 Murphy USA sites, with North Carolina home to more than one-quarter of them. It also aims to build 60 to 80 new stores per year into the near future.
For two sites open late last year, early performance was staggering. Volumes per store hit more than 600,000 gallons by March 2008, while merchandise profits reached just below $40,000. Murphy 's Wal-Mart sites typically see 305,000 gallons of output and $15,000 in merchandise profits per store.
For an in-depth look at Murphy Oil's go-to-market strategy, click here.
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