Joe Hamza, chief operating officer of retail and marketing at Nouria Energy Corp., might be able to predict the future.
“I knew we’re going to pop to the top on these scores,” Hamza told CSP one year ago, looking forward to store revamps and remodels improving its Mystery Shop performance.
Nouria indeed popped to the top in 2024 with a final winning score of 97.48%. The Worcester, Massachusetts-based brand of 183 stores has improved every year since it joined the contest, earning third place in 2023 and fourth place in 2022.
The 2024 runners-up were both first-time Mystery Shop participants: Stinker Stores, with a second-place score of 96.18%, and Tri Star Energy, with a third-place score of 95.96%.
The Mystery Shop evaluation is a combination of a revealed audit that accounts for 60% of the final score, in which the store employees are aware an evaluation is taking place, and a mystery shopper assessment, where auditors check out the store in disguise, which accounts for the remaining 40%. Ten convenience-store chains participated, and an average of 100 locations were audited per chain by data analytics firm Intouch Insight, Ottawa, Ontario.
- Nouria is No. 44 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 list. Tri Star Energy is No. 42. Stinker Stores is No. 66.
Of this year’s final scores, five convenience-store chains scored 95% or better, while last year’s final scores only included three chains that scored above 95%. The lowest score this year was nearly 3 percentage points higher than that of 2023, highlighting improvement in standards across the industry.
“We're seeing, now more than ever, that convenience stores are being held to a higher standard,” said Cameron Watt, president and CEO of Intouch Insight. “We're dealing with scores that are getting close to perfect, and what struck me was how much we've come along [since the audit format changed in 2017].”
Nouria: Stepping it Up
“Synergy” is how John Pszeniczny, director of operations, described the balance between Nouria Energy’s two businesses: its stores and car washes. The chain’s synergy doesn’t end there, though; The winner of Mystery Shop has four core values—educate, empower, inspire, instill accountability—that maintain the balance and relationships between store-level employees and the corporate team.
“One thing I'm very proud of my peer group at the support center for is there is never a day, week, month or year where the folks here are not willing to go out and support the stores, whether it be pre-snowstorm or heat wave,” he said. “Every single person at this support center is always willing to jump in and help the field, and that builds a lot of great relationships and camaraderie between the field and the support center.”
Tony El-Nemr, founder and CEO, started the family-owned business as a single location in 1989 in Auburn, Massachusetts, aiming to keep it a multi-generational business for his children. El-Nemr aspires to quadruple Nouria’s size in the next eight years. The company has grown into a 183-store and 60-car-wash chain in three ways: raise and rebuilds, new-to-industry stores and acquisitions. Nouria currently operates in the Northeast.
The team at Nouria is thrilled to be at the top of the Mystery Shop audit among many great operators across the country that it learns from, Pszeniczny said.
“What we do, the eight weeks during the mystery shop is no different than what we do the other 45 weeks of the year,” he said. “We're there to serve our guests and all the team at the support center.”
Aiming for Perfection
Nouria earned a perfect score in the fountain drink section of the revealed audit, and the chain makes sure it stays neat, clean filled and fresh, Pszeniczny said.
As far as interior cleanliness, Nouria “aims to be perfect,” he said, and with a score of 99.8% in the revealed audit, it was not far off. Nouria uses Zenput, an operations software for retailers, to maintain daily tasks such as cleaning restrooms, ceilings, walls, baseboards, sweeping under gondolas, mopping and more.
Education helps Nouria keep its employees in check, such as training on the importance of cleanliness.
Organized merchandise is a big part of interior cleanliness, and Nouria has QR codes for all its planograms throughout the store so that managers can update them at any time.
“We're able to pivot very quickly and keep [merchandise] in stock, keep the newness for the guests,” Pszeniczny said.
Coffee Scores High
Coffee was another well-performing category for Nouria, at 99.4%, but it came with obstacles. The chain invested in new bean-to-cup machines in all its locations, and the challenge was getting the guests who were comfortable with drip coffee to use the new technology, Pszeniczny said.
“I’m very proud of the field team, our [learning and development] team who helped create the training, our foodservice team for lining up great product for our guests and employees [for] educating the guests on this new type of technology,” he said.
All rewards members get a free coffee every day, so Nouria leveraged digital and in-store marketing to promote the new coffee.
Loyalty Push
Nouria’s rewards program, which received a perfect score in the loyalty portion of the revealed audit, offers 5 cents off every gallon of fuel. There is also a weekly Friday freebie where Nouria, with support of its vendor community, offers customers a free item such as a snack, candy bar or beverage.
Nouria employees are trained to push customers to sign up for the loyalty program and get the perk of 25% off food when they sign themselves up.
“There is skin in the game for [employees] as well, so when they believe in the program, they are more apt to really sell it to all of our guests,” he said. “We spend a lot of time teaching, training, coaching on making sure that we ask every guest if they are using their rewards membership today.”
Nouria also has friendly competition between stores. The biggest standing competition is called the Summer Sizzler, and this year’s focus was employees’ rewards penetration. This incentivizes employees monetarily.
Employees, who scored 99.5% in the revealed audit, are also trained to greet, anticipate and appreciate every guest during every interaction, said Pszeniczny.
Honest Feedback
The dairy and sandwich cooler were both areas of the Mystery Shop that had room for improvement for many of the participating chains. Nouria, however, scored best in these categories. Every store and district manager has to fill out an evaluation when they visit a store.
“We want honest feedback, we don't want you to report what you think we want to hear or see because we can help everyone quicker when we're just honest,” he said.
Employees won’t get in trouble; they will get training, said Meghan Rice, director of marketing at Nouria. “They’re going to get elevated and shown what those expectations are in a positive way. I really value the culture.”
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