LAS VEGAS -- While a growing economy and bustling NACS Show promise a strong year ahead for convenience-store retailers, there are several dangers along the way. During the general session speech at the 2015 NACS Show, CEO Hank Armour shared several that the association is tackling as the official voice of the industry.
This begins with overzealous regulation.
“Even with the best tools to run your business, to fight your existing and emerging competition, to ride the wave of innovation, there is one more enormous challenge to your business,” said Armour. “I would argue it is the greatest challenge of all: the government.”
“What the government can do to you in one day can be more than you make in a year,” he added.
One example where NACS has had some success beating back what it considers the “poorly designed” menu labeling rule formulated by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The rule originally required that chains with 20 stores or more that sell restaurant-style food would have to post itscaloric content by December 2015. After heavy lobbying by organizations such as the National Association of Convenience Stores and the introduction of legislation that would attempt to fix the rule's flaws, the FDA pushed that deadline to December 2016.
Beyond regulatory pressures, NACS is also fighting competitive threats such as online lottery ticket sales, and it is a fight that it has had to battle without the support of past partners. Armour noted that the c-store industry built the lottery category in close partnerships with the state lottery commissions.
“One would think that they would partner and explore with us, their dominant distribution channel, the feasibility of cyber-sales of lottery tickets,” he said; however, the North American State & Provincial Lottery Association has instead chosen not to work with NACS on the issue.
“They have refused to partner with us to protect the business that we built for them,” said Armour.
He cited a few issues with online ticket sales, including that they hurt local stores and create new problems such as tempting consumers to run up credit-card debit, and poor controls to prevent underage sales.
“Is that a way a program that is purported to fund our schools, should go to market? I don't think so,” said Armour.
Other issues that NACS is tackling include:
- Revising the Renewable Fuels Standard to align the ethanol mandate with what the market can realistically absorb.
- ACA compliance.
- Taking on “patent trolls” to help retailers avoid costly litigation.
- Continuing the effort on swipe-fee reform. Here, Armour pointed to the passage of the Durbin Amendment, which placed controls on debit fees and saved the c-store industry nearly $500 million in 2014, as evidence that the association's efforts do pay off.
“We've had a great year and long list of accomplishments,” said Armour. “I have no doubt that next year we'll have an equally impressive list. The reason for my optimism is simple: Our core values never change.”
These values include: Do the right thing, strive for excellence, think long-term, be fiscally responsible and always look through the eyes of members and speak in their terms.
“These values guide us every day in the pursuit of our noble cause: to better our industry.”
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