CHICAGO -- Word that The Guess Corp., a diamond-dealer-turned-would-be-convenience-store retailer that burst onto the scene this summer with a goal to acquire or open 1,000 sites within a year, plans to roll out not one but two c-store chains—“luxury” and “ultra-luxury” chains at that—has sparked an understandable amount of curiosity and skepticism among editors and readers of CSP Daily News.
Although the company has yet to open a single location of any kind, late Friday, Guess announced that it is launching a chain of “ultra-luxury gas/convenience stores as country clubs with memberships required,” to be known as GP Club. “Ultra-affluent households with a net worth exceeding $50 million will be the clientele for these units,” according to the company.
Guess said its other chain, GP Express, will be its luxury brand for regular old “affluent” consumers—and presumably ordinary consumers.
CSP Daily News has been covering Guess’ spate of c-store channel announcements as they have flown off of the news wires:
- Diamond Dealer Looking for C-Store Gems
- Guess Corp. Selects Firm to Design Its C-Stores
- Guess Teases ‘GP Express’
- Guess Engages Real-Estate Broker for C-Stores
- Guess’ Next Move Opens Door for Retailer Partners
- Guess ‘Couples’ Restaurant Concept With GP Express
We have been treating these announcements as we would news of any other industry company; however, the volume and regularity of these announcements and the increasing level of, well, ambitiousness if not downright bizarreness, led us to start including an editorial disclaimer on each Guess story.
But this latest announcement has taken the story to yet a new level. It has added fuel to an ongoing internal debate about whether the company is real (of course, we admit the possibility), a scam, a shell, a fake, a sociological experiment, a marketing campaign, a reality show, an exploratory trial balloon, the first wave of an alien invasion or something else altogether.
With apologies to Winston Churchill, Guess is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, disguised as a convenience store. This company’s lofty ambitions beg many questions. Who is behind Guess? Who is its leadership? What is their experience, in or out of the convenience channel? Does it have the wherewithal to make good on its goals? How do they expect to pull off such an upscale offering? Is anyone taking them seriously? Guess, indeed!
CSP has reached out to Guess on several occasions. To date, response via email has kept to its story line, promising to diversify from luxury goods into c-stores, restaurants and hotels.
Guess—it’s time to let some light in and provide some bona fides. We’d love to welcome you wholeheartedly into the convenience-store industry and wish you success.
Either way, this story will surely continue to provide some, shall we say “interesting,” journalistic fodder.
In the meantime, what do you, our readers, think about Guess Corp.? Does it sound legitimate? And how do you think CSP Daily News should cover it? Please drop me an email at glindenberg@winsghtmedia.com with your thoughts on Guess and any other coverage.
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