OAK BROOK, Ill. -- Bitter cold and a massive snowstorm that pounded the Midwest late last week did not deter more than 300 small-business owners from the aisles of the inaugural Independent C-Store Expo (ICE) at the Marriott Oak Brook on the outskirts of Chicago.
ICE featured more than 40 national, regional and local suppliers offering group discounts and incentives to retailer members of Royal Buying Group Inc., the Hinsdale, Ill.-based buying organization that hosted ICE. Attendees ranged from single-store operators to 50-store chains, in total representing [image-nocss] a couple thousand stores, according to Mike Zielinski, president of Royal Buying Group.
We really attracted more chains this year, more prospectives, Zielinski told CSP Daily News. We've got about 1,300 members, representing 5,500 stores, but through the buying programs we have with our partners, we touch and feel' close to 30,000 stores. This [event] is only going to grow.
Mookie Bhatia, who operates six stores in Illinois, including the Stop Shop & Go convenience store in Roselle, visited supplier booths in search of ways to maximize his buying power and forge relationships with new vendors. I'm in Cook County, so right now we're having a tough time, with cigarettes especially, he said. We're just a small group of stores, so I'm just looking to see if we can get some good deals to help me compete.
Suppliers used the event as a conduit to boost their exposure among the independent community, see and be seen, and learn more about the specific needs of smaller operators.
Dan Shapiro, executive vice president of prepared-foods vendor Krispy Krunchy Foods LLC, Jonesville, La., told CSP Daily News that independents account for more than 90% of his business. It's the onesies and twosies and threesies that are driving the business, said Shapiro, who himself operates a convenience store/travel center in Louisiana. This will be a good event for us. If the leads come through like I think they will, this will give us a toehold in the Chicago market.
Ian Byrd, director of franchise sales for Chester's International LLC, Birmingham, Ala., characterized the independent retailer as the backbone of our business, as did Vinnie Bahl, director of corporate sales and national accounts for Joe & Ross, Cicero, Ill., a master distributor for Unilever and Masterfoods ice cream brands. Bahl wanted to meet with retailer attendees to make sure his company was fulfilling our end of the bargain, he said.
We're here for our existing customers, to answer any questions they have, and to make sure we're deliveringplus as a thank you to Royal Buying Group, Bahl told CSP Daily News. The small retailer is the heart of this business, so this is still very important to us.
Inspirational words from a special guest with his own small-guy-battles-big-guy, overcoming-all-odds-to-realize-a-dream tale closed the evening. The speaker's story was one to which most independents could relate. Daniel Rudy Ruettiger, also known as the most famous graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the subject of the 1993 film Rudy, told ICE attendees about his strugglea Hollywood-worthy yarn of an ordinary guy doing an extraordinary thing. Small in stature but massive in heart and determination, Ruettiger overcame incredible odds to realize a childhood dream.
But I don't think it was extraordinary, he said, referring to his appearance in the final 27 seconds of the only play in the only game of his college football career, in which he sacked the opposing team's quarterback. Nothing is extraordinary if you believe in it. Persistence, inspiration and relationships paid off.
Ruettiger has another tie to the c-store industry; in addition to providing the event's closing remarks, he attended to promote Rudy Revolution and Flying Colors, two lines of sports/wellness drinks from Rudy Beverage Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz. The new-to-market beverages will soon grace the cooler doors in c-stores run by a midsized chain in the mid-South.
For more on upcoming events and other resources for independent convenience retailers, look for the March issue of CSP Independent, a quarterly magazine first launched by CSP Information Group in March 2006.
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