I’ve always been open to adventure—especially a road trip.
My latest road trip from Chicago to Nashville, Tennessee, for Convenience Retail University (CRU), Feb. 24-26 had plenty of pitstops, including a new store tour of Leo’s Market and Eatery at 3431 South St., Lafayette, Indiana, a convenience-store disco detour at Hop Shops at 3213 Highway 227 in Carollton, Kentucky, and a peek at a Washie smart toilet seat at Family Express, at 8805 W. State Road in Rensselaer, Indiana.
The words of the Greek poet C.P. Cavafy played on repeat in my mind as I hit the road: “hope the voyage is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery.”
Destination Bound
My second road trip to CRU did just that. During the trip I realized that most of my store visits were destinations—not only for me—but for others as well, including Leo’s.
Photograph CSP Staff
At Leo’s I met up with Damian Wyatt (pictured above), vice president of retail, purchasing and merchandising for the Greenfield, Indiana-based c-store. Leo’s has locations in Greenfield, Noblesville, McCordsville and Indianapolis, Indiana.
Wyatt gave me a tour of the store, which includes plenty of freshly made meals, groceries, gas and more.
While in the store, I was impressed at how busy the place was. People are not simply fueling up and hitting the road for their next destination, the convenience-store chain is their destination. The kolaches behind the glass counter made for a constant line of customers. Two ladies in front of me told me they meet at the convenience store “every week” to enjoy a hot coffee and a fresh kolache since the one-stop shop opened its doors earlier this year.
With everyone fighting for the same dollar, convenience stores are gaining on quick-service restaurants (QSRs) with their foodservice offerings. I saw it firsthand, while waiting for my kolache.
Customer loyalty at Leo’s is evident—and growing. Leo’s has charm, convenience and community, which I think most people are craving. While I was there, I saw two young families in the sit-down area enjoying an early Saturday dinner. There is a drive thru that allows customers to order almost everything in store. A wooden display case crafted by an Indiana carpenter, which features local products to purchase, greets customers at the entrance. At Leo’s, it’s evident that once people get in the store, they don’t leave.
Disco Fever
My next stop, Carrollton, Kentucky, was a bit out of the way, but again Cavafy urged me on. This was my first time to a Hop Shops disco bathroom. This adventure hit all the high notes. I can’t think of another industry that does this—if you know of any, I’d love to hear them.
Photograph CSP Staff
For those of you who don’t know, Hop Shops, a c-store chain in northern Kentucky and southern Ohio, feature disco bathrooms in several of its convenience stores. The bathrooms in six of petroleum products distributor and convenience-store retailer Valor Oil LLC’s Hop Shops locations have a bright red button that says, “Do Not Push the Red Button.”
Yes, I pressed the button. The lights dimmed and the disco ball started spinning. I giggled as the music played because I realized that sometimes life’s adventures can happen anywhere. Cavafy was right, life can be full of adventure, including at convenience stores.
CRU
CRU included three days of ideas, insights and networking for those in the convenience-store industry. This year’s CRU had something for everyone, including educational talks on center store, fuels, tobacco, technology, foodservice and more. Everyone was engaged.
I learned from Kyle Drenon, co-owner and CEO of Supper Co., that with the industrial revolution long since in the rear-view mirror, consumers stand at the precipice of a new revolution—artificial intelligence (AI). Drenon told the ballroom full of c-store retailers and suppliers that “with proper permissions, businesses can have real-time conversations with their data, asking AI for instant insights rather than sifting through spreadsheets.”
In one of the sessions I attended, I learned how convenience-store operators are widening their brand into new revenue streams, including Knoxville, Tennessee-based Weigel’s.
Nick Triantafellou, director of marketing and merchandising at Powell, Tennessee-based Weigel’s told the audience how 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 he credits the partnership in capturing more of the Gen Z and millennial audience into Weigel’s stores and that it has 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.”
On the drive home, I stopped in at the Family Express. The Valparaiso, Indiana-based c-store retailer is in the process of executing $100 million in the development of new-to-industry (NTI) stores, with several starting this spring throughout Indiana. And yes, I got to check out the Washie smart toilet seats.
My latest CRU road trip was another success, which reminded me that the journey is where the adventure begins.
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