Josh Lund, owner and manager of Beaudry Express in Elk River, Minn., has a secret of success, but it’s no magic bullet. Lund’s secret requires patience and work. As he strives to make it as an independent retailer in the convenience industry, Lund puts effort into every aspect of running his business. His secret? Being well rounded.
Lund got a degree in finance and worked in banking for a few years. When his father-in-law, Ken Beaudry of Beaudry Oil, decided to sell off his convenience stores to focus on his propane business, Lund and his wife, Lisa, took over one of them. They bought Beaudry’s last store in 2005.
Beaudry Express was built in 1993 on the corner of Highway 10 and Proctor Avenue, a good spot with steady commuter traffic. Roughly 30,000 people drive by daily.
“Back when the store was built, my father-in-law liked how [a competitor] was set up,” Lund says, “so he went to their store and literally paced it out. He copied it exactly. The cashiers are in the middle on a raised platform. Freezers and coolers are at the back.”
Day by Day
Lisa does the store’s bookkeeping, along with accounting work for Beaudry Oil in the office next door. Lund oversees the store’s daily operations. He makes sure the store is always well-staffed 24 hours a day. He takes his time with the hiring process, focusing on recruiting employees who will invest in the job for the long term and support his high standards of store cleanliness.
“Clutter, clutter, clutter: It’s one of the biggest problems with independents,” Lund says.
He doesn’t accept when vendors offer financial incentives for store displays that he feels could make his store look messy, but he nonetheless prioritizes having good relationships with vendors.
“A partnership with a vendor is a two-way street,” he says. “You have to give to get.”
Lund won’t hesitate to drop a price point in order to move more volume at a vendor’s request. “We make up for the penny profits we lose on single units when we do deals like buy-one-get-one on Rockstar,” he says. “That’s something a lot of stores just won’t do. But it’s worth it to us. We’re going to cut the margin and sell a ton of it. Plus customers are often grabbing something else along with it.”
Lund also maintains a strong relationship with his grocery distributor, McLane Co., using its Java City Express coffee program to entice his morning commuters. He offers seven different brews plus cappuccino, all set against a classy tile and cherry wood backdrop to pull it all together. Along with more than 200 cups of coffee daily, Beaudry Express sells more than 200. Case Donuts, a local bakery, delivers them fresh daily.
Beaudry Express is gradually being remodeled with a cohesive, contemporary store design.
“People say we have some of the best apple fritters around,” Lund says. “Some know us as a doughnut shop more than a gas station.”
Beaudry Express calls on other local businesses for foodservice as well. Lund buys handmade, steamer-cooked hot dogs direct from Elk River Meats, and he uses locally owned Heggy’s Pizza, which the store sells by the slice.
Out with the Old …
In addition to overseeing daily operations, Lund is investing time and money in the future. He looks to his competitors for cues on where to put his focus.
“A lot of independents don’t spend enough time looking at their competitors,” he says. “When Walgreens started selling big bags of fun-sized candy, we started doing big bags of fun-sized candy. That stuff sells like crazy.”
Lund also tries to look at his store from the perspective of his customers to determine where to make changes.
“Our clientele is upper-class, and the pumps are the first things people see,” Lund says. “We want people to know our store is clean and updated.”
The site is branded Shell, with nine dispensers, all brand new this spring. The $150,000 it cost Lund was well worth the benefits it brought to his customers.
“We were having technology issues with the old machines,” Lund says, “which required people to walk inside and get things sorted out. With some of the snowiest and coldest winters on record, that’s a major inconvenience for people. Nobody wants to do that when it’s 15 below.”
He installed two new automatic car washes five years ago, spending $250,000 on the pair, and he plans to update them again in 2017.
Lund was also thinking of the future when he began remodeling the store last winter.
“Back in the ’90s, everyone wanted everything to look like a race car,” he says. “We’re pulling ourselves away from that look to something more contemporary.”
Neutral colors with natural stone and siding: That’s the look Lund is striving for as he takes on remodeling projects that will continue through this spring. With the help of Prime Advertising & Design, Maple Grove, Minn., he has already updated the Beaudry Express logo to make it more cohesive with the store’s new look. He makes sure his in-store marketing looks professional as well. His Beaudry Bargain Sheets, which push weekly specials, look like they come from a chain, not an indie. (See sidebar below.)
Balance Boss
The balance of consistent daily work and creative innovation makes this business a perfect fit for Lund. He once returned to finance while he still owned the store, but he quickly realized that “once you get to be your own boss, it’s hard to answer to somebody else.”
“Gas prices and managing employees can be stressful, but sales and marketing is pretty exciting,” Lund says. “Convenience is a fun business to be in.”
Owner and manager Josh Lund takes advantage of local vendors and national distributors to supply his customers with a balanced foodservice offering.
It’s a Bargain
Josh Lund puts a great deal of time and effort into making his in-store marketing look as professional as possible. His strict policy against handwritten or even Microsoft Word-generated signs allows nothing less. Each week he carefully designs Beaudry Bargain Sheets to display at the fueling stations, in the bathrooms and on the cooler doors, encouraging customers to notice timely specials by saying, “Hey! This good-lookin’ signage is something to take seriously.”
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