A growing wave of convenience-store operators are widening their brand into new revenue streams, including Knoxville, Tennessee-based Weigel’s and Nashville, Tennessee-based Tri Star Energy, the parent company of Twice Daily convenience stores and White Bison Coffee.
Eric Rush (center), director of marketing for Tri Star Energy, and Nick Triantafellou (right), director of marketing and merchandising at Powell, Tennessee-based Weigel’s spoke recently at CSP’s Convenience Retailing University in Nashville. The session, Extending the Brand, was hosted by Mitch Morrison (pictured left), vice president of retailer relations and event content director with CSP’s parent company Informa Connect.
Rush said that in 2017, Twice Daily launched the company’s White Bison Coffee, a complete coffee-shop concept that is now an integral part of Tri Star’s Twice Daily stores.
Merging the two concepts has allowed the retailer to draw consumers into their convenience stores that typically wouldn’t stop in, Rush said. He said that now consumers are stopping in because they want an espresso and high-quality goods from White Bison.
“This gives us an opportunity to talk about two brands under one roof,” Rush said.
Integrating these concepts has also introduced new customers to high-quality food inside the store while also allowing customers to fuel up for gas in the forecourt, he said.
“It gives us the opportunity to talk about our brand in multiple ways,” he said.
When it comes to extending the brand, Triantafellou said Weigel’s name, image and likeness (NIL) partnerships with University of Tennessee (UT) athletes has leveraged the convenience-store chain to launch a series of loyalty offers that have heavily boosted customer engagement.
Triantafellou said the partnership has also been a key driver when it comes to increased activity on the c-store chain’s social media platforms.
“Our brand is no longer a gas station,” Triantafellou said. “Our brand is UT sports.”
By extending the brand, Triantafellou said it has given Weigel’s the opportunity to create the c-store chain’s line of commercials This is Weigel’s that pays homage to the This is ESPN series.
Triantafellou said he credits the partnership in capturing more of the Gen Z and millennial audience into Weigel’s stores. He said it has created a loyal bond because these audiences love their sports so much and when “they tie us to UT we are no longer just a gas station.”
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