The Oneida Nation recently celebrated more than 20 years of convenience-retailing experience by rolling out an upgraded version of its award-winning SāvOn store.
Just ahead of the busy Fourth of July travel weekend, we unveiled our latest remodeled and rebranded store in Oneida Lake in upstate New York.
Before I get into the details, I want to first offer some of the rationale behind our rebranding strategy. Guest demand is increasing in terms of what is offered and the actual quality of the offering. We strive to be innovative and stay ahead of the curve, whether it’s with our exemplary guest service or our variety and quality of offerings.
We believe that this rebranding not only gave our store a new, younger and more contemporary feel, but it also allowed us to add several unique in-store features that continue to set us apart.
Play On, Shop On
For the remodeling of the store, we kept the same footprint of the existing 5,500-square-foot site, but we did a complete overhaul inside, adding new features such as PlayOn by SāvOn, a branded section of the store with more than 30 Las Vegas-style cash slot machines. While this was the third SāvOn store to offer cash slot machines, it is the largest gaming section at any of our locations and the first to introduce the new PlayOn by SāvOn concept. The age-restricted section also allows our trained, licensed staff to pay out a guest’s winnings. “PlayOn” is a playful and literal twist on the SāvOn brand, encouraging guests who may have stopped for gas or other convenience items to stay a little longer and play.
We realize that gaming is something most c-store operators cannot introduce. Perhaps less unconventional, yet still significant in investment and opportunity, is our custom-made beer cave and state-of-the-art walk-in cigar humidor. The beer cave offers a variety of imported and domestic beer, and we feature a large selection of craft brews such as Southern Tier, Lagunitas, 21st Amendment, Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head, to name a few. The humidor carries more than 150 varieties of premium cigars.
The remodeled SāvOn in Oneida Lake also features a full-service Dunkin’ Donuts with a drive-thru window for total convenience. Whether guests are filling up, eating a quick bite or grabbing a cold beverage, we want to make the experience as easy as possible for them, and Dunkin’ Donuts and other quick-service restaurants help us do exactly that.
The Oneida Lake location offers competitively priced nonethanol gasoline, essential for boats, personal watercrafts and motorcycles. Since the introduction of ethanol-blended fuels, some guests have struggled with fuel separation during storage and in wet environments, as well as poor engine performance, making the option to buy nonethanol fuel crucial.
Homeowners also like this fuel for small-engine machinery such as lawn mowers and chainsaws. The SāvOn Store joins the Oneida Nation’s nearby Marion Manor Marina and Mariner’s Landing Marina as the only Oneida Lake-area sellers of nonethanol fuel.
Convenience stores are part of the Oneida Nation’s broader portfolio, and seamless guest interaction across the different enterprises is important.
Our innovative 360-degree TS Rewards loyalty program, for example, allows guests to earn reward points on the SāvOn gaming floor and on purchases the same as they would at the company’s two nearby casinos, Turning Stone Resort Casino and Yellow Brick Road Casino. In fact, TS Rewards allows guests to earn and redeem points for purchases at all Oneida Nation Enterprise businesses, including SāvOn stores and Turning Stone Resort’s golf courses, restaurants, spas, hotels and entertainment and nightlife venues.
A Legacy Evolves
The rebrand carries beyond the physical store and can also be seen in the logo. SāvOn’s new emblem, evocative of a handwritten, personal note, is vibrant, stylish and more modern than the previous logo, which had represented the convenience-store chain since the first SāvOn opened in 1994. The refreshed logo emphasizes the value guests will continue to find at our convenience stores, with “Sāv” written in a soft script font.
Now two decades old, the Oneida Nation’s SāvOn Stores have earned two American Society for Training and Development Central New York Chapter BEST Diamond Awards, recognizing SāvOn’s commitment to workplace learning and performance. SāvOn earned the awards for its “Exceptional Customer Service: Shopping for the BEST” program, which focuses on training programs to consistently deliver a legendary guest experience, and a mystery-shopper program to measure employee performance and provide feedback to drive continuous improvement.
We continue to innovate and delight. About 18 months ago, we launched our SāvOn mobile app, allowing guests to receive special offers, discounts and event notifications, and to play spin-and-win games for SāvOn prizes.
The new SāvOn brand will continue rolling out to our remaining 12 locations through a multiyear rebranding initiative. Remodeling our stores over time gives us the opportunity to collect valuable feedback from our guests, which helps us customize features and offerings as we go, ensuring we deliver the best experience possible.
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