The 126-store chain, based in Buffalo, N.Y., currently has kiosk gas stations at 35 locations.
Most of the new stations would end up [image-nocss] in the parking lots of existing stores, but where that is not possible, Tops would seek to acquirenot buildexisting stations directly adjacent or near to Tops locations.
"We're always looking for ways to expand our gas program," he added. "If something were to become available that would allow us to continue the momentum of our program, we would look beyond the four corners of our parking lots."
He said there are "a hundred reasons" building on a current site would not make sensea landlord's use restrictions, insufficient room near the street, hindered traffic flow. But the gasoline rewards program has been such a great success that working creatively to overcome site limitations is worth it to the company's bottom line.
"It's a big part of what makes us different," he said. "Stores with gas stations continue to outperform stores without them. And when we put a gas station in a store for the first time, that store's sales go up."
When using a Tops loyalty card, shoppers accumulate one gasoline bonus point for every qualifying dollar spent at Tops stores, said the report. For every 100 bonus points, shoppers receive a 10-cent-per-gallon discount on gas purchased at Tops gas station kiosks.
The more stations Tops makes available, the better it can support and bolster its successful gasoline promotion, the report added.
"It's important to us. It's part of the value equation we create for customers," Curci told the Buffalo News. "When shoppers look at their choices, they look at what value is created in a shopping trip. Our bonus points are one aspect of that value creation."
Tops' gasoline revenues jumped by 46% during the 16-week period that ended in late April, according to financial data cited by the paper, released earlier this month in conjunction with Tops' plan for a debt exchange. Tops' gasoline sales grew to $41 million as the company added gasoline sales at four stores over the course of the last year, even though the number of gallons sold was relatively flat.
Typically, the added stations would offer four gasoline islands per location, which would have dispensers accessible on each side for a total of eight pumping positions.
Though Tops' gasoline kiosks offer such convenience items as single-serving drinks and snacks, and would experiment with kiosk sizes and offerings, company officials made it clear Tops is "not trying to get back into the convenience store business" on the scale it had with its ownership of Wilson Farms Neighborhood Food Stores.
In 2005, Wilson Farms cofounder Savino Nanula partnered with a local investment group to purchase the convenience store chain. At the time, Tops and Wilson Farms were owned by Dutch parent company Ahold.
In April, a noncompete agreement signed by Tops at the time of the Wilson Farms sale expired. That agreement's expiration is unrelated to the timing of Tops' offsite expansion, Curci said.
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