NORFOLK, Va. -- After a year helping move forward card-swipe fee reform and understanding more of the global nature of convenience retailing, Jeff Miller, president of Miller Oil Co. Inc., will step down as NACS chairman with an invigorated outlook on our industry. Miller, whose Norfolk, Va.-based chain has 33 stores, spent some time recalling his eventful year.
Click here to see Miller's midyear State of the Industry.
Q: What are highlights from your year as NACS chairman?
A: The first one has got to be the George Bush interview I did at the NACS Show last year. It was a thrill. The fact that I interviewed a former president of the United States and it went as well as it did was a highlight of my [time] as chairman.
The second would be our swipe-fee win [that thwarted efforts to delay enactment of the new law]. It was a huge victory for our industry. Now, we're not totally happy with it since [the Federal Reserve] allowed banks to charge a higher debit fee than we expected, but it's still going to have an $800-million impact. And it did get debit fees cut in half.
Q: How could it have gone better?
A: I think that the federal government should have … adhered to the [original debit] fee being a 12-cent transaction. [Final rules put the ceiling at 21 cents plus 5% above the value of the transaction.] It goes to show why antitrust laws are important. The Feds met with the banks over 40 times and met with retailers less than 10. It shows the power of monopolies and duopolies when they get entrenched and there's no watchdog. They really are powerful and the smaller guys lose. I think the Feds did bow to the banks.
Q: Were there other memorable moments?
A: When I was asked to address the Energy and Power subcommittee in Congress. It was a fascinating learning experience to sit at the table and read the statement like you see on TV. And to be nervous and intimidated … but I realized I was there because they didn't know the answers.
Q: What else did you learn?
A: The No. 1 lesson is that individuals make a difference when it comes to politics. You may not think so when you read the newspapers and look at the political influencing that goes on. You'd think, "What difference can one guy from Norfolk make?" But when you sit down with legislators, they know the difference between a lobbyist and a constituent. They do listen. It's important for individuals and retailers to get involved. What we learned with the swipe-fee fight is that when you get everyone singing the same song, we've got 146,000 stores and 1.6 million employees … so we flexed our muscles.
The second lesson is to pay attention to what's going on in c-store retailing on a global basis. I've gone now to my second global NACS forum, and while there really isn't a whole lot of difference in terms of the basic concept--great location, and provide the right products, goods and services—what you see is that different countries are at different points of chronology. For instance, there's payment by cellphone in the Far East that hasn't approached the United States. Here it's self-serve [gasoline] and in other countries it's still full-serve. In Canada, [cigarette advertising is minimal or] "dark," and upwards of 30% of sales are contraband [product].
Q: What issues remain for the industry going forward?
A: Swipe fee isn't done. There's legislation pending relative to credit-card fees, so it will still be with us for a while. But another issue that's creeping its way in is legislation through regulation. If politicians can't get a law passed in this current political environment, they find out who the regulatory agency is. An example is with [union rules] that got shot down in Congress. Now [the regulators] are coming in. … The overarching issue is that as retailers, we have to make advocacy part of our daily routine.
Q: What advice would you have for the next chairman?
A: It goes by fast. One of the things that I tried to do was keep a journal. You get exposed to so many different ideas. It goes by in such a blur that you can lose it.
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