"We look at this as a real opportunity to grow," Brad Call, executive vice president, told CSP Daily News in an exclusive interview. "We're going into Vegas, where land values were $45 to $50 a square foot, and you can get something there for $6 to $8 a square foot now."
The fact that the Las Vegas economy remains depressed isn't a deterrent, [image-nocss] Call (pictured) said, because Maverik has the size and economic health to wait for things to turn around in the City of Lights.
"We can wait that out, because it's going to come back; it'll come back," he said with confidence. "And so we look at land values and the ability to build a store for 20% to 30% less than what we did several years ago as an incredible opportunity to expand.
"And so we're trying to leverage that and we're in a very aggressive growth mode right now because we can take advantage of a lot of synergies and a lot of the fact that there are good deals out there."
The North Salt Lake, Utah-based chain expects to have added 25 stores this fiscal year (which ends March 31) and 30 sites next year, said Don Lilyquist, Maverik permits manager, as previously reported in CSP Daily News.
The chain opened its first store in Washington in December. It is currently building its first store in Las Vegas and aims to open its first store in Oregon this spring. Still, Call said the company recognizes it has a core marketing area and won't be making major leaps just to add stores.
"Maverik operates in seven western states right now. Our core areas are Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, northern Arizona and Nevada," he said. "We're not going to skip states or jump outside of our core. But we are going to expand within that area, and so we're pushing into Colorado; we're finishing up eastern Wyoming--Laramie, Cheyenne, Casper. We're pushing up into Washington state. We'll be in the tri-cities area, into Spokane. You'll see some Maverik stores in Oregon. We're opening stores in Vegas as well."
He added, "We'll continue to build stores in our traditional areas, as well, but we are pushing the boundaries just a little bit."
North Salt Lake City, Utah-based Maverik operates 221 convenience stores that sell gasoline and fuel, fresh food from its bakeries, beverages and other merchandise.
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