Convenience stores must create an identity when crafting their plan for success.
“If Buc-ee’s opened a hotel, I think we all can kind of imagine what that hotel might look like,” said Stafford Shurden (pictured), owner of Stafford’s Market in Drew, Mississippi, in the talk Transforming Your Menu Like a Restaurant at the NACS Show this week in Las Vegas.
If Hampton Inn opened a c-store, however, it would be just a c-store “because one of them has an identity and the other one has a logo,” Shurden said, adding that finding the identity of his restaurant was really important to him.
Part of that journey involved not only loving what he was doing but being good at it, he said, noting American Idol contestants who loved singing but didn’t have anyone close to them tell them they’re not very good.
‘I want to be the absolute best in Mississippi.’
In addition, the journey also involves doing something the market values “as much or more than you do,” he continued.
To create raving fans, one must surprise and delight, have an incredible menu and be super-focused on giving customers something they can’t get anyplace else, he said
“At Stafford’s, my elevator pitch is: “We're in Mississippi. We cooked the food that your grandma used to cook in Mississippi. It’s history on a plate.”
Shurden said there’s a sign hanging in his restaurant kitchen that reads, “Treat everybody who walks in here like your grandma.”
“Just last week my staff asked me about getting some little pre-done country-fried steak patties with breading, and I said, ‘Would you serve it to your grandma?’ And they said, ‘No,’ and I said, ‘Well, there's no point in asking me. You already know the answer.’”
Keep It Simple
Success doesn’t have to be complicated, Shurden said, saying that in addition to finding their identity, retailers should create a simple, repeatable menu. He noted a restaurant in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody, NFA Burger in a Chevron gas station, that has a small menu with burgers, hot dogs and sausages, grilled cheese for children and a few sides and sweets.
The owner, Billy Kramer, “is super obsessed with making the best smashed burger in America,” Shurden said. “He’s been the top five on Thrillist, he’s been in Southern Living, he’s been the number one burger in Atlanta five years in a row and number one burger in Georgia a couple of times.”
‘Your first thought, your gut instinct, is usually the best choice.’
Shurden shared a quote from Kramer: “I have no interest in mediocrity. I’d rather do one thing perfectly than a lot of things imperfectly.”
The burgers come with American cheese, French’s mustard, Mt. Olive pickles and Sassy Sauce—with a few other toppings that can be purchased. “Don’t try to reinvent the wheel,” Shurden said. “Just do one thing really, really well.”
“I owned a steakhouse for five years,” he continued. “We had huge menu, and it was tough to train staff. Today, we have such as simple menu that we can train a new employee in one day.”
The first mistake Shurden said he did when getting in the restaurant business was trying to show everyone what he could do.
‘Pick a Lane’
Today, “I’m a big believe in ‘pick a lane’ and do the best I can in this lane,” he said. “When you do that, you gain momentum.”
Dominate and keep the momentum, he said, suggesting retailers “stay ahead of the curve and never settle.”
Make it a goal to be the best in the space—and make daily incremental changes, he said.
“I want to be the absolute best in Mississippi,” Shurden said. “I think you do that daily through daily incremental changes.”
He added, “Your first thought, your gut instinct, is usually the best choice.”
Shurden also noted the importance of having standard operating procedures.
‘We cooked the food that your grandma used to cook in Mississippi. It’s history on a plate.’
“I use ChatGPT a lot to develop standard operating procedures,” he said. “It’s been a life saver.”
He added, “Greatness is within your reach. Turn your c-store into a destination. I think foodservice can be a huge part of your customers choosing you every time—your raving fans coming back again and again and again—because you’ve given them something that they think that you can’t get anywhere else.
“Keep it simple, delight your customers, and never stop pushing forward,” he added. “There’s no excuse for not having a place that people are comfortable going into.”
He added, “Meet people at shows like this. The number one thing going into a show is networking and growing your circle of interest.
“I feel I owe this group. That’s why I wanted to come here.”
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