LAS VEGAS -- Pride and profitability push convenience retailers to build their businesses through additional units and complementary profit centers. But they must practice great discipline when making such growth decisions, according to participants in the Super Session calledRunning with the Big Dogs: A Special Session for Small Operators on How to Grow Your Business at the NACS Show in Las Vegas.
It's not about how many stores you have; it's about the volume you do, said Dennis Carter, president of Pour Boy Oil Co., Excelsior Springs, Mo., whose company [image-nocss] has grown from one store to eight since he took it over in 1990. If you end up trying to get to a certain number of stores, you could end up with a lot of dogs.
Joining Carter in the session were Rick Levitan, owner of Convenience Retailing Inc., Columbus, Md.; David Meiners, owners of Meiners Market, Kansas City; Harry Singh, president of Bolla Management Corp., Brooklyn, N.Y.; Leo Vercollone, owner and president of Verc Enterprises, Duxbury, Mass.; and Jon Athey and Bruce Familian of City Stop Inc., Las Vegas.
The panelists told an audience of their peers that smart growth means knowing when to walk away from a potential growth opportunity. It's about quality vs. quantity, said Vercollone, whose company has 20 stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. When I look at a 10-store chain to acquire, two stores are awesome, two are terrible and the other six are OK. I'd rather acquire the two [awesome] stores and the heck with the 10.
Participants offered ideas for everything from financing sources and store design to site selection and operations benchmarks. In addition to growth through new stores, many of the panelists in the three-hour session preached the importance of diversity in their portfolios. Such diversification tools, they said, include branded quick-serve restaurants, in-store U.S. Postal Service units and auto-repair shops.
I believe very strongly in blending [profit centers], said Singh, who has grown his business into a network of more than 30 stores since opening his first in 1989. You've got to find ways to grow yourself, to sustain yourself long term. Look at each location and see how you can maximize that site.
While growth takes discipline, moxie and plenty of financial resources, it can't happen without a strong support structure. The foundation of any growth platform, according to the panelists, begins with a layer of great people. Such a foundation, according to Singh, must be built from the top down.
You have to be a role model, he said. You have to be part of the team. You've got to bring yourself to [the support staff's] level because without people, you cannot grow. It's about you having the passion to go to work every day. If you're there for your people, [the business] will grow.
Meiners of family-owned Meiners Market said his company has never lost a corporate employee. That's due in part to the five-store chain maintaining a stress-free environment that includes a corporate dining room and a chef that provides free meals to employees and free daycare two days a week.
Five-store Meiners Market maintains an equally impressive record at the store level. And because the company chooses to grow organicallyby building new stores from the ground upMeiners believes his company can attract a more-talented, better-equipped crop of store associates.
The panelists shared different opinions in regard to their preferred method of growth. While Meiners has chosen to grow through new builds, others preferred acquisitions. One retailer said the method of growth was unimportant, as long as the method yields the best-performing asset.
Pour Boy's Carter added a few caveats: Most times, people don't unload a store unless there's a problem with it. One bad site can drag down three good ones. One bad sitelike one bad employeecan just wreck it. And as you're expanding, always have an exit strategy.
[Pictured (top left to bottom right): Leo Vercollone, David Meiners, Dennis Carter, Harry Singh]
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.