|
#
<br />«
<br />I
<br />«
<br />4k
<br />*
<br />«
<br />»
<br />«#
<br /><«
<br />%
<br />m
<br />%
<br />«
<br />#
<br />«
<br />w
<br />»
<br />«
<br />5
<br />•i
<br />-n
<br />ir
<br />«
<br />«
<br />M
<br />«
<br />4»
<br />«
<br />4s
<br />V
<br />•1
<br />1
<br />4»
<br />*4
<br />More and more gasoline stations offer to
<br />fill you up when you stop to fill up your car
<br />«
<br />4
<br />14
<br />"I
<br />4
<br />♦
<br />By ChristiM Arp« G«^
<br />Memphis Commercial Appeal
<br />T t’s becoming easier to find a cook
<br />I on duty at a gas station than to find
<br />X a mechanic.
<br />That ’s because convenience
<br />stores that also sell gasoline are trying
<br />to lure customers inside with home-
<br />stvle foods, delicatessens or familiarm
<br />fast foods. And businesses that were
<br />basically gas stations with small conve
<br />nience sections are jumping on the
<br />bandwagon.
<br />“It’s not a trend, it’s an avalanche."
<br />said Harry Murphy, director of techni
<br />cal services for the Service Station
<br />Dealers of America. "Some companies
<br />are adding their own delis, ar.d others
<br />are going into partnerships with com
<br />panies lU^ McDonald ’s, Subway or
<br />Burger King."
<br />The trend is as hot in Mirmesota as
<br />it is in other parts of the country, said
<br />Greg Headrick, executive director of
<br />the Minnesota Service Station and
<br />Convenience Store Association.
<br />Murphy said oil companies have
<br />found they sell far more gasoline in
<br />units with convenience stores than in
<br />those with service bays.
<br />Cheaper labor
<br />“With service bays, you take in 20
<br />cars in the morning and that ’s it," he
<br />said. "Cars are getting more technical,
<br />and equipment and training are
<br />expensive. Labor is easier and cheaper
<br />to get for convenience stores."
<br />Repair business is increasingly
<br />going to car dealers and businesses
<br />that provide specialized service for
<br />brakes, mufflers, transmissions or
<br />tune-ups, Murphy said.
<br />Convenience stores are turning to
<br />selling prepared food as sales of their
<br />most frequently purchased items slow.
<br />"In the long term, our largest cate-
<br />6>I
<br />gories — cigarettes and beer — are not
<br />growing." said John Cooper, branded
<br />food manager for MAPCO Express, a
<br />Memphis. Term., chain. "Soft drinks
<br />are. but we need something else. The
<br />whole take-out, take-home food area is
<br />high-growth."
<br />During 1995, MAPCO teamed with
<br />Blimpie International, a submarine
<br />sandwich chain.
<br />Stations have real estate
<br />“The fast-feeders are interested in
<br />teaming with our industry because we
<br />have the real estate." Cooper said.
<br />Headrick said the move to fast food
<br />is driven by interest from both sides of
<br />the equation: “The vendors of fast food
<br />are looking to increase their market
<br />share, and our service stations-
<br />convenience stores have prime retail
<br />locations; it’s easier to incorporate fast
<br />food into one of those sites than to find
<br />a new site. And the food offers new
<br />traffic for service stations."
<br />Starting at 5 a.m., breakfast cus
<br />tomers file into At the Market No. 2 in
<br />Memphis. The companments of the
<br />large steam table are filled with scram
<br />bled eggs, grits and several kinds of
<br />breakfast meats. In addition, there’s a
<br />warming cabinet with ready-to-grab
<br />biscuit sandwiches.
<br />At noon, a stampede of workers
<br />from a nearby industrial park comes in
<br />for Bertha Jones’ home cooking. Every
<br />day she and two helpers prepare five or
<br />six entrees, a like number of vegeta
<br />bles, corn muffins and a couple of
<br />homemade desserts. /\nd the service is
<br />fast. ".Most of our customers only have
<br />30 minutes for lunch, so they hit the
<br />pavement running," said Jim Sartain,
<br />owner.
<br />Sartain, who bought the store four
<br />months ago. kept the successful hot
<br />food operation just as it was. Previ
<br />ously he owned a convenience store
<br />that served cold food only.
<br />Different a/rangements
<br />“All the major convenience stores
<br />are offering more food," Sartain said.
<br />There are "all kinds of different
<br />arrangements" between the gas and
<br />food purveyors, Headrick said. Some
<br />gas-station owners are getting their
<br />own fast-food franchises. Some lease
<br />space to deli or fast food businesses,
<br />and some simply make deals with sup
<br />pliers and open their own delis.
<br />In the last year, McDonald ’s Corp.
<br />announced its intention to team with
<br />both Amoco Corp. and ChevTon Corp.
<br />in developing fast-food oudets as gas
<br />station/ convenience stores.
<br />“There aren ’t many McDonald's or
<br />Burger Kings (in gas stations) in Min- '
<br />nesotayet, bht they’re coming," Head
<br />rick saicL You will find White Castle,
<br />Subway, Taco Bell and other outlets in
<br />service stations around the state now,
<br />he said.
<br />According to the National As
<br />sociation of Convenience Stores
<br />(NACS), prepared food accounted for
<br />11.9 percent of all sales at convenience
<br />stores in 1994. That was up from 10.4
<br />percent in 1992.
<br />"Convenience stores want a more
<br />diverse customer base,” said Stewart
<br />Small, communications and informa
<br />tion specialist for NACS. “It’s been
<br />mostly blue-collar males, ages 18 to 24,
<br />who come in for cigarettes or lottery
<br />tickets. To get a diverse customer, they
<br />must offer what those customers want,
<br />and prepared foods are the way to go."
<br />Headrick said that “what ’s coming
<br />now is ordering your food at the pump
<br />through the intercom. You go in to pay
<br />for gas and pick up your sandwich at
<br />the same time."
<br />— Distributed by Scripps Howard
<br />News Service.
<br />V
<br />• t
<br />§
<br />I
<br />(
<br />f
<br />i|
<br />a
<br />j!
|