"With the improving results that began last summer, we accelerated our construction, and as a result we opened as many new retail locations in the fourth quarter as we did for the first three quarters combined," president and CEO Sam L. Susser said yesterday during an earnings conference call with analysts. "In total, [we added] 14 new retail stores in 2010. We also added...48 [image-nocss] dealer sites to our wholesaler segment."
For a full report of Susser Holding's fourth-quarter 2010 earnings, see related story in this issue of CSP Daily News.
Among the seven "large-format" store openings was a first for Susser: a 10,000-square-foot store built on 10 acres in Fort Stockton, Texas.
"Fort Stockton is off to a great start for us," said Susser. "We're thrilled with the way consumers are responding there."
The company, however, is in no hurry to add a second 10,000-sq.-ft. site as it grows its new-construction goals for 2011.
"During this coming year, we expect to complete construction of 18 to 22 new retail stores, which will be a record for us," said Susser. "We have six stores already under construction, two of which should be open by the end of the first quarter. We will commence construction on five to six more units by the end of March."
Added Stripes president and CEO of retail, Steve DeSutter, "None of them are going the 10,000-square-foot store. We have basically two boxes: One is about 4,800 square feet, and the other one's about 6,500 square feet. We're planning a mix of both of these."
The record new-store growth comes at a time when Susser Holdings has good reason to be optimistic.
"With a rapidly growing Hispanic population, the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo areas continue to enjoy some of the best demographics for growth of anywhere in the United States," said Susser, whose Laredo Taco Co. foodservice concept has seen great growth. "Census data release last week shows that Texas is growing at a much faster rate than any other state and that Hispanics make up 38% of the Texas population, up from 32% a decade ago. This rapidly growing segment accounted for 65% of the state's growth of the past 10 years, and accounts for 95% of the increase in the population under age 18. Our product offering and our geographic footprint position us to benefit from this very positive trend."
He added, "Customer count and transaction size continue to grow as consumers respond positively to the rebranding and remodeling of the legacy Town & Country stores to the Stripes and Laredo Taco Co. brands."
Susser Holdings purchased the Town & Country c-store chain in 2007 and is now just months away from completing its rebranding.
"We couldn't be more pleased with this acquisition," Susser said. "We have achieved our projected cash flow with the acquired stores. We realized procurement synergies for our legacy Stripes stores and, as a result of our increased size, we have been able to substantially strengthen our IT capability and our management team."
DeSutter said the final 10 of the original 168 Town & Country sites should be rebranded to Stripes by the end of the first quarter in late March or early April.
Susser added that the Town & Country acquisition also opened other opportunities for growth.
"Since completing the acquisition, we have filled in, in the former T&C footprint, by building 15 new big-box stores in growing towns like Lubbock and strategically located oil and gas communities like Paraiso Springs, Midland and Odessa," he said. "There is still more room to grow organically in these markets over the next several years."
Corpus Christi, Texas-based Susser Holdings is a third-generation, family-led business that operates more than 525 c-stores in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma primarily under the Stripes banner. Restaurant service is available in more than 310 of its stores, primarily under the proprietary Laredo Taco Co. brand.
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