Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc./Circle K

With roots in Canada, Alimentation Couche-Tard is the largest convenience-store operator in that country and has a considerable presence in the United States and around the world. Its North American network, mostly branded Circle K, consists of 15 business units, including 11 in the United States covering 41 states and the District of Columbia. Four business units in Canada cover all provinces (under the Mac’s and Couche-Tard flags). The publicly traded company also has a franchise division that oversees international units.

In recent years, the chain has made significant acquisitions, the most recent of which was 500 Holiday Stationstores spread from Minnesota to Alaska. In 2016, Couche-Tard announced a global rebrand of all its stores to Circle K, but it continues to operate a few brands tied to recent acquisitions. In time, however, the new Circle K logo will replace most of Couche-Tard’s existing Circle K, Statoil, Mac’s and Corner Store brands in the United States, Canada, Scandinavia and central and Eastern Europe.

Circle K stores offer a wide variety of branded, proprietary and private-label items, as well as a recently revamped coffee program and its well-known Polar Pop fountain brand.

Source: Convenience Digital Resource Library, Technomic. For benchmarking purposes, store counts are year-end 2017.

Photo courtesy of Xnatedawgx.