Independent retailing darling Sam Odeh, the brains behind the Power Mart brand, is extending his sights beyond his Midwestern roots. Odeh, who has five stores in the Chicago area, will wear not only winter boots but also sandals as his company expands into southern Florida.
While Odeh will retain his retail locations in Illinois, his Power Mart brand will expand southward. Through Power Buying Dealers (PBD), an organization Odeh helped to create, the Power Mart brand will set up shop in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Fla. PBD’s job is to negotiate buying agreements with national vendors, set up Odeh’s private-label foodservice program and rebrand the sites to the Power Mart name.
PBD is essentially the heart of Power Market, Odeh says. Its purpose is the marketing, merchandising and national vendor alliances necessary to operate independent outfits. Power Mart is the shell, the bricks and mortar, foodservice and private-label program, etc., while PBD acts as the national chain, complete with buying and negotiating power.
In the next two years, PBD will have fi ve to 10 new stores in Georgia, and 10 to 15 in Florida. There are 79 Mobil sites in the PBD Group, 25% of which exist on land owned by Buchanan Oil, but with an independent-operator-owned business.
The remaining 75% are owned by the PBD member operators. PBD provides a national tobacco program with fixtures and 17 manufacturers; national beverage, snack, equipment and coffee programs; private-label foodservice; a loyalty program and signage.
Odeh himself has no financial hand in this game, other than his involvement with PBD. The model exists on the premise that it is not a franchise agreement. The operator is charged management and service fees through its association with PBD. Though it is his brand, his business structure and his negotiating skills, Odeh does not own the stores or run them on the front end.
Q: Tell us more about your entry into Florida.
A: The first stage involves PBD USA and its national vendors. We’ve executed our exclusive fixture program ... in all seven stores. We have introduced our Powmaro private-label brand. We’ve successfully sold more than $1,500 in our private-label offering per location in the initial introduction. … That was stage two. Those two give us the confi dence to go to stage three, and that is to talk about how to brand those stores into Power Market.
There’s been no investment on my part. It’s a three-way venture: the management company, PBD and the owner of the assets. All fi ve of our Boca locations are Valero. The Cooper City, Fla., location is branded Sunoco and the Davie, Fla., store is Mobil.
Q: Why Florida? Is it the real estate, or do you see it as an untapped market?
A: [First], our relationship with PBD South, who worked with our management. The second reason is the high concentration of ExxonMobil and its distributors. After 15 years of consideration, we’re finally making that leap.
It is our hope that we can perfect these seven stores—and when I say perfection, that means on the tobacco and national programs, in the foodservice private label, and the transition to Power Mart, which we anticipate will happen in April of next year. Once that happens, we will open Power Mart, PBD Florida. It’s a secondhalf 2015 goal.
Q: How will the Florida locations differ from those in the Chicago area?
A: It’s funny—it really isn’t different. Our barometer on that is how we rolled out our private label. We took our exact same brands that we have in Chicago and added two items. One is a Cuban item, and another is an ethnic item. It’s more Mediterranean. We believe there’s a high Greek and Middle Eastern contingent of people in that pocket of Florida, [based on] some census data we collected. We looked at Boca and it is our perception that there is a high population of Jewish people. We really kept a lot of that in mind as we moved forward with the foodservice. We are being inspired by some New York and Chicago deli-style options—to bring some of that familiarity down to Florida. The inspiration is first identifying the ethnicity, because the tourism down there its not a big deal for us.
CONTINUED: Product Mix, Biofuels & the Future
We will be remodeling and gutting the interior, and we’ve already started. It is going to be a cold day in hell [before] we’ll touch anything on the exterior, other than adding the Power Mart name. The ordinances, especially in Boca, are intense, and we don’t want to play the delay game.
In one of our stores, we have used local inspiration. This particular store is on Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and it inspired the whole interior of the store. We really promote the FAU brand. There are goal posts and a whole field on the awning.
There’s definitely a look there that plays to our customer base. We are flexible in terms of having a niche look.
Q: How is the clientele different? How will your product mix reflect that change?
A: It varies. The Boca Raton store has a high-end car wash. The age group in that location is more than 50 years old. We have an outside patio that they can take advantage of.
Q: I know biofuels have been something you’ve tried in Chicago; how will your fuel offer change in Florida?
A: It will look the same. I will influence my national alliance with Renewable Fuels America. We just came off a hearing here in Chicago. We were the only chain present that committed to the [Chicago Clean Air Choice Ordinance, which ensures that a mid-grade E15 ethanol blend will be available at all Chicago retail stations].
I’m all for any form of competitiveness and any form of renewable independence from foreign oil. At the end of the day, if we have these resources in our country, we should take advantage of them.
I realize Florida and Georgia aren’t the most conducive to biofuels, but we shouldn’t be so closed-minded. I’m all for renewables. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that every store in Florida will have it. We have our challenges, and we’re going to take it one day at a time.
Q: What are you looking forward to most in this move?
A: I’m very motivated by Florida … mostly because I can actually focus my business and have that 12-month calendar with very little interruption. Florida presents a consistency and continuity.
Q: Where do you think Power Mart and the brand will be a year from now?
A: Our Downers Grove location will be up and running in Illinois. I can see three other possible sites as a joint venture. In Florida, all seven locations will carry the Power Market brand and [will be] in full gear in terms of foodservice. In Georgia, there will probably be three locations.
In Michigan and New York, there are high-level talks [about stores in] those locations, and we’re definitely moving in the right direction.
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