Despite the strain the pandemic put on operators and the difficultly that stores had to run efficiently, H&S Energy maintained a powerful position, which allowed it to find success in the past couple of years.
“I think there was a time where a lot of people were selling, and we were in a position of buying,” says Amir Hassan, director of operations and retail for H&S Energy. “We still are, and we will be for a very long time.”
H&S Energy Products LLC, Orange, California, expanded by 25 locations from the beginning of 2022 to 2023, now at 165 stores and No. 51 on CSP’s 2023 Top 202. In 2022, the company purchased 20 stores from an unnamed company in Southern California and five additional stores from various owners.
The chain, which in 2021 set a goal of doubling its store count in five years, recently upped its ambitions to triple its store count within the same time frame. The amplification of its target is based on how much growth the company has had, growing from 112 stores two years ago.
When acquiring new stores, H&S looks for “synergies with current operations” and “growth opportunities in new areas,” he says. H&S is a franchisee of ExtraMile and Chevron and operates its own brand, Power Market, which it wants to expand outside of California into new states.
The company’s success also comes from strategic site selection due to high interest rates, Hassan says.
“You don’t want to put your money into assets that are going to generate a so-so ROI or something that is going to bring in less than expected return just because the borrowing cost is so high right now that you need something to subset that,” he says.