EL DORADO, Ark. --Murphy USA has reintroduced its propriety Visa card that offers fuel discounts at the pump. The move is part of the El Dorado, Ark.-based retailer's new growth initiatives, which includes adding more than 50 new stores this year.
The card became available Aug. 1 with an introductory 10-cents-per-gallon discount through the end of the year.
“Our market research shows that more consumers that shop at our stores prefer an immediate cents [off] discount,” said president and CEO Andrew Clyde during Murphy USA’s second-quarter earnings call.
While it’s too early to tell if the fuel discount card will drive traffic to Murphy USA stores, Clyde said he expects “to see some uplift.”
“The number of card applications is, on a daily basis, greater than it was on a monthly basis before because it had not been a priority to promote them,” he said.
Another priority for Murphy USA is to achieve 5% organic unit growth this year—a goal that is on track.
“We remain on target to add between 60 and 70 new stores to our network this year,” Clyde said.
Since the beginning of the year, the retailer has opened 17 new stores and completed seven raze-and-rebuilds. Forty stores are under construction, including three remaining raze-and-rebuild sites. Murphy USA is considering doing about 20 raze-and-rebuilds next year, Clyde said.
“We know that we need to continue to add new stores … but we [have] got to continue to reinvest in our network, and raze-and-rebuilds is just a part of that,” he said.
Murphy USA also completed 120 of what it refers to as "super-cooler" additions at kiosk locations this year and accelerated installations on another 60 sites.
Murphy USA has 1,344 locations—226 of which are Murphy Express sites—in 24 states.
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