AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. -- Reducing the costs of running a store was key on the agenda at this week's Emerson Climate Technologies' fifth annual Technology Advisory Council, which included an audience of 29 grocery, department and convenience store retailers, as the division of Emerson announced its intention to widen its presence in the large-chain c-store channel.
We're looking to understand what it means to become not just a technology company but a services and solutions company, said Ed Purvis, Emerson Climate Technologies group vice president.
Originally aimed at large-box stores such as supermarkets and Target, St. Louis-based Emerson Climate Technologies' (ECT) integrative facility-management system hardware and software is a good fit for larger c-stores, the company said. The system is already being used by ExxonMobil and Dollar General, an 8,000-store chain with locations averaging 6,800 square feet. While not a c-store, Dollar General has similar facility-management needs, according to Emerson.
The 2005 NACS State of the Industry numbers, unveiled in conjunction with CSP in Chicago the week before, indicated that of the seven direct-store operating expenses tracked, utilities and credit-card fees were the only ones to climb in percentage of gross margin sales from 2004.
Designed by Computer Process Controls, an ECT company, the E2 controller debuted in 2003. One of its three applications, the CX, is specifically designed for c-stores. The E2 can control and monitor and report on one or more of a store's systemsrefrigeration, security, HVAC, irrigation, lighting, fuel dispensers and car washes, with the goals of cutting energy and maintenance costs.
Access to the system is centralized, eliminating chainwide inconsistencies, said Matt Lauck, ECT's Intelligent Store business manager. The E2 replaces electro-mechanical controls, programmable thermostats, and in-store breaker boards, and can pay back its original cost just by monitoring and controlling a chain's heating and cooling, he said.
You typically don't want [store employees] touching the controls, because one person's hot, the next person's cold, so they're constantly running the thermostat, and that has big implications as far as energy costs, Lauck said. This is a way to lock them out, but still allow you to remotely view what's going on with a multiple of stores.
ECT's offerings are as simple as HVAC controls using E2, or as complicated as, for example, store design or existing-store assessment followed by an ECT temperature monitoring and control system in concert with E2, which would bolster food safety in coolers and cases. It all would be connected to Emerson's Intelligent Store Software Suite, which provides 24-hour online access to real-time store conditions as well as monitoring and service-dispatch alarms.
ECT boasts energy savings of as much as 10% to 25% with its refrigeration, lighting and HVAC management, and claims it has reduced ExxonMobil's average facility maintenance cost by $1,000 per year.
Depending on how expensive someone wants to get with an install, we try to keep payback between a year and a half and two years, Lauck said.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.