As the old adage goes, perception is reality. That saying never seems to go out of favor, especially in today’s ever-evolving retail world. If you’re not changing and adapting to today’s realities, you’re being left behind. Just ask Sears and JCPenney.
The great thing about perception is that you have the ability to change it. When I joined Paul Reuter and Drayton McLane at CSP 17 years ago, the perception of our magazine in the channel was less than ideal. We were seen as the distant third book in what was then a three-book race, and our content was perceived more as a light read than great business journalism. But what we did have was a great foundation with incredible relationships and two of the best thinkers in the business, along with a strategy to turn things around.
We’ve come a long way since then, but the moral of the story is that you can change perception—you just need to understand the brutal facts and develop a clear vision of what you want to become.
As we all know, the c-store industry has a negative perception with consumers and regulators, one that has been shaped over a number of years. We’re seen as the channel that sells only what is bad for you, our stores are crime-ridden or dirty, and we raise fuel prices to pad our pockets.
When people outside our industry ask me what I do, they’re always a little surprised by my passion and enthusiasm for not just what I do for a living, but also about the industry we serve. Like many, their views of our channel are a little jaded by the media putting us in unfavorable light or based on their own visits to less-than-desirable stores. So when I start to describe what I do and the people and industry I work in and cover, they come away with a completely different perspective. Yes, there are some in our channel, as in any other industry, that are still in the dark ages and continue to perpetuate the old perceptions. But that is not the industry we all know and love, and it’s about time we stepped up and did something about it.
Over the course of the more than 20 years I’ve been in the channel, I’ve visited and gotten to know many operators and their teams. I’ve seen not only the work they do in their stores, but also what they bring to their communities. I’ve seen them change and adapt to the new consumer demands of better-for-you options, build incredible stores and develop great employees and teams. I’ve seen the charity work they do within their communities or for the people they employ and wonder why that doesn’t ever get reported.
Our retailers are passionate, smart and resilient, which is why our channel continues to thrive. Most are also very humble, including our 2014 Retailer of the Year, whom we talk about and report on extensively beginning with our cover story on p. 62.
We as an industry have an awful lot to be proud of. So my hat is off to NACS for making our industry’s perception one of the association’s key focuses in the coming year and beyond.
At this year’s NACS Show, Hank Armour, NACS’ president and CEO, outlined the association’s plan:
▶ Tell the positive story of the industry by inviting elected officials to work a few hours in our stores.
▶ Tackle the perception of the industry’s dead-end jobs. We know that one in nine adult workers have worked in convenience stores, and they have many positive impressions about their time in those jobs. Encourage them to share that information.
▶ Create new opportunities for stocking and selling fresh products to help improve access to such products, reposition your offer and get credit for being a place for fresh food and healthy options.
Like anything worthwhile, it will take more than our association’s efforts to change the perception—it will take all of us adapting our offerings to the changing consumer, continuing being great community business leaders and givers, and not being afraid to stand up and let the world know the other side of the story. Yes, it will require being a little less humble at times, but the return will go a long way toward shaping the perception of this great industry for many years to come.
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