WAYCROSS, Ga. –With multiple sources saying that Flash Foods, a well-respected and technologically innovative 170-store convenience-store chain in the southeastern United States, is in the process of reviewing prospective bids, its CEO would only confirmed that the sale was in the exploration phase, and that it “may or may not happen.”
As reported in a 21st Century Smoke/CSP Daily News Flash, in a statement released on September 21, Jimmy Jones, CEO for the Waycross, Ga.-based chain, said, “The Jones Co., which is the holding company for Flash Foods, is exploring a potential sale at this time but the sale may or may not happen.”
Flash Foods stores are known for their cleanliness, according to CSPedia.
And in a time when master limited partnership (MLP) players and other consolidators are bidding up multiples for prime assets, the Flash Foods chain—despite its largely rural platform—may make for an attractive target, with its long history of developing technologies specific to convenience stores.
Its IT team has been leading-edge in areas of scanning, conversion to item-level inventory, loyalty development, mobile apps, mobile payment and as recently as last month, implementing a test with Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Inc. for digital tobacco coupons.
Flash Foods’ Rewards in a Flash loyalty program, has 600,000 active users and has grown to account for 35% of total transactions. The program rewards customers with 2% back in "Flash Cash.”
Sources within Flash Foods speaking confidentially to CSP Daily News expressed concern over the continuation of the chain’s technology infrastructure and focus, as well as retention of its personnel, but felt cautiously optimistic.
Waycross, Ga.-based Flash Foods Inc. operates 170 stores in Georgia and Florida, with all but 16 in Georgia. The Jones Co. also includes a grocery distribution arm (Distribution South), a fuel distribution company (Fuel South) and several car dealerships. The company also operates 23 restaurants, some of which are freestanding, including Subway, Taco Bell, Krystal and Dairy Queen.
According to CSP’s Convenience Top 101, Flash Foods began as a small grocery store in Folkston, Ga., in 1952, operated by J. C. Jones Jr. and his father J. C. Jones Sr. The company grew through the 1960s, and it acquired a small wholesale grocery distribution center located in Alma, Ga., to supply the stores.
As the grocery-store industry evolved toward ever larger supermarkets, Flash Foods underwent a fundamental change to a convenience-store format, with individually sized grocery products, snacks and drinks. And the stores were open for business when the supermarkets were closed.
It added gasoline pumps, usually as part of a joint venture with a local oil company distributor. In 1981, it created Fuel South to purchase fuels directly from refiners and distribute it to Flash Foods stores.
The Jones Co. was created in 1982 to serve as a holding company for Flash Foods and affiliated companies.
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