KINSTON, N.C. -- Fuel Warehouse, a jaw-dropping convenience store introduced three years ago by Mallard Food Shops in its hometown of Kinston, N.C., has sprouted east to the town of New Bern. Additional Warehouses are planned for the part of the state between Interstate 95 and the Atlantic, but the concept could work anywhere, according to its owners. That theory will likely be put to the test in the near future.
I could take this to Philadelphia or Chicago, and it could be just as accepted there, Mallard Food Shops general manager Randy Godsell told [image-nocss] CSP Daily News. We've got two more Warehouses already under way, but our ultimate goal is national. Within three years, I'd like to think we can have 20 or 30. The wheels are already in motion.
Each Fuel Warehouse is distinguishable from a distance by an arched, corrugated-metal roof. The sloping, metal canopy ties the store to the fuel island and vice versa, thereby addressing a challenge familiar to most fuel marketers. The age-old problem for the c-store is getting people inside the store, Godsell said. With this store, you literally don't know if you're on the outside looking in or on the inside looking out.
Atypical building materials and understated yet stylish colors make both Fuel Warehouse sites look like they cost a fortune to build. That's a common reaction, according to Godselland a misperception. For example, the interior walls of the New Bern store are lined with painted slabs of MDF, a type of paneling Godsell called just about the cheapest material known to man, and Ansell Adams-style photos snapped during the store's construction.
The costs are no more than a traditional convenience store, said Godsell, a 20-year retail veteran whose professional career began as a history teacher in Florida. When you drive a $20,000 car that looks like it cost $50,000, you've done well. People walk in here and think I spent twice as much as I did, and that's the effect you want.
The first Fuel Warehouse in Kinston was an experiment to help Mallard Food Shops, which has 10 stores, compete more effectively in a Wal-Mart world. Godsell refined the New Bern store, however, with a more compact store footprint, a tighter lota little too tight, admittedlyand a few upscale improvements.
Gourmet merchandise has a home. We sell bulk candy for $5.90 per pound, said Godsell. People will walk out of here with $12 of candy and they don't think twice about it. There has always been this mentality that, We can't sell that in a convenience store.' But we can. We can sell $200 bottles of wine. At the first Warehouse in Kinston, you can buy Dom [Perignon] up there.
Restrooms were designed, like the entire store, to take one's breath away. The company spent approximately $30,000 on each marble restroomand it shows. As a customer, you're not expecting it, he said. The restrooms are just part of it. People will get out and actually walk the store. They slow down, and you can see them shift gears. It's really kind if amazing.
A fireplace visible in-store and out adds necessary atmosphere, according to Marvin Maune, president of New Bern-based design firm Maune, Belangia, Faulkenberry Architects, which dreamed up the Fuel Warehouse design. It makes customers feel like they have a place to stop and relax, Maune told CSP Daily News. They're trying to create that atmosphere where people will do more than just buy a pack of gum and leave.
The second Fuel Warehouse has better ingress/egress than its predecessor and also lacks the second-story mezzanine found in the Kinston store. Doing so has enabled the New Bern store to make room for other merchandising tools, such as a beer vault. The company originally expected the site to pump 80,000 gallons per month. It did well more than five times that amount in its first month open.
While the company's eight Mallard Food Shops remain profitable and still do decent business, Godsell does not expect to build any new Mallard stores. Converting them to the new concept isn't an option because Fuel Warehouse is an experience, not a coat of paint, he said.
It has changed our whole mentality on the c-store business, he said. It's a new broom that sweeps everything clean. Yes, this will work anywhere, and yes, this is the future for us.
Look for more on Fuel Warehouse in the December issue of CSP Independent magazine.
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