[Editor's Note: This is the first of two articles on improvements at Sun Capital's two c-store platforms, Village Pantry and Worsley Operating Corp. For more on this private-equity powerhouse and its new focus on convenience retail, watch for the September issue of CSP magazine.]
INDIANAPOLIS -- For Mick Parker, flexibility is an important part of change. The president and CEO of the 181-store Village Pantry holds marching orders to increase the value of the chain, the first convenience store investment from private-equity firm Sun Capital Partners Inc., Boca Raton, Fla.
Parker [image-nocss] is initiating changes on multiple levels—store technology, image, merchandising, floor-plans and fuel supply, shifting priorities as the need arises.
"Our re-merchandising and remodeling activities have brought results that are surpassing expectations," Parker told CSP Daily News. "Our issue is there's so much to do. So it becomes a matter of picking the right priorities at the right time."
Here's a snapshot of improvements that began within the past year:
Changeover of fuel to a single supplier. Shifting of technology platforms. Getting traditional c-store grab-and-go offers into newly acquired locations. Taking Village Pantry's non-traditional food offer (including bakery, deli and hot foods) and putting it into select acquisition sites. Testing Chester's Chicken, Montgomery, Ala., in three Village Pantry sites, a move that replaces the original chicken program in those stores. Adding roller-grill and build-your-own-burger options to stores already equipped with Village Pantry's basic foodservice offer. Expanding its fresh condiment offer (with options such as lettuce, pickles, tomatoes and onions) to its existing deli stores to keep with the company's "Variety is Everything" theme. Installing cigarette back bars. Stores did not have back bars, so the company is installing 12-foot to 16-foot units.Two of the chain's larger efforts involved changing gasoline brands to Houston-based Marathon and implementing a new technology infrastructure. For the fuel effort, planning began in February of this year, with active construction starting in April. The chain's 139 stores carrying fuel (both branded and unbranded) now take supply through Marathon.
Parker said much of the remodeling outside had to occur in the warmer months, with attention being redirected inside the store as colder temperatures set in.
A second significant project had to do with technology. Village Pantry operated as a subsidiary of Marsh until Sun Capital bought the parent company on 2006 and subsequently spun off the c-store chain. So Village Pantry's reporting systems were integrated into the software programs Marsh used.
The problem with the Marsh system was that it was geared to the supermarket business, Parker said. For instance, it wasn't designed around "gasoline functionality and the types of things you need in order to run your business every day," he said. "We also promote differently [than supermarkets], so our new system allows us to do…multi-pack cigarettes, 'two-fers' and buy-one-get-one free."
Marsh's system was also on batch technology vs. software that's available now to c-store operators to provide "what's basically live data," Parker said. "We end up with much better data, as well as systems and processes designed around our business." Village Pantry chose Temple, Texas-based PDI as its supplier.
When asked what might happen as Sun Capital grows through acquisition and issues of integration arise, Parker said scalability will be important. "You can't predict the future, but what we did intentionally was implement a package that was scalable," he said. "If it makes sense to roll [our technology] into this acquisition or that, then we will. But sometimes chains already have a solid system in place."
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.