Shout It Out!

CThese experts believe that it can hurt a chain's image when customers see the new format at one location and the old format in another. In addition, overhyping a grand opening can draw attention and bring increased business for a day or two, but does not necessarily guarantee the people who show up for the handouts and hoopla are going to be steady customers.

Southwest Georgia Oil Company Inc.'s Aaron Goodman contends the right amount of promotion and marketing of a new image is a necessity. "Since these stores get a 'new life' every seven to 10 years, we really feel we should make the most of it," said Goodman, vice president of Southwest Georgia Oil, which operates 30 Sun Stop Convenience Stores.

The Bainbridge, Ga.-based company is in the process of rebranding its gas stations, converting from major gasoline companies to a proprietary brand, and is upgrading the look of its stores in the process.

Goodman said the project is about 75 percent complete. The stores have new fountain and coffee areas and expanded cooler space to provide more choices, particularly in the New Age beverage category. The beer doors have energy curtains, a big plus in keeping beverages cold in the steamy South, he said.

In addition, more natural lighting, with glass from floor to ceiling, adds to the open feel of the store.

Goodman said a slight dropoff in store traffic follows the introduction of the proprietary gas brand at each store. "We might see a little decrease at first," he said, but he attributed it to a change in the gasoline rather than dissatisfaction with the store format. "We see the numbers bounce back pretty quickly."

The most critical component to getting the word out about a new image is planning in advance, several c-store operators agreed. Customers might love the new image, but they'll likely turn elsewhere if your store is shut for a long period of time for remodeling.

"The main goal is zero downtime," Goodman said. "That takes a lot of coordination and strategic planning. But it is something that is imperative." He noted that if a store is closed for any length of time, customers will find a new location and start a new routine. "We do it in stages. We don't want any bumps in servicing our customers," he said.

Phil Hurlbut, CEO of P&H Service Inc., also emphasizes pre-planning. "Try to dot every 'i' and cross every 't' before you open. Once you open, you will not have time to make sure the wallpaper border in the restroom matches the flowers," he noted.

The c-store chain, based in Florissant, Mo., has six stores, two of which have been rebuilt or are new in the past two years.

Hurlbut suggests starting to advertise about two months prior to the opening. This is an adequate amount of time to get the message out without customers being overloaded with promotion mania too far in advance. Push the new store too far in advance, he said, and people start to tune out the message.

Some marketing strategies that have worked for Hurlbut include a sign counting down the days until opening, handing out coupons at local businesses and having a "coming soon" article in the local newspaper.

While there is a tendency to breathe a sigh of relief once the store is finally opened, that is not the time to let up on the marketing, Hurlbut advised. He suggested having a banner announcing the store is now open and giving free coffee for the first month to get customers in the habit of coming to your location.

P&H also handed out frequent buying cards for car washes, coffee, fountain and foodservice, allowing customers to earn free items or discounts after a certain number of purchases.

"Get your employees to help. To jump-start our foodservice, we picked two days a week to promote. One day we would hand out free samples at the fuel pumps. The other promo day we would send two employees to construction sites and local businesses to hand out free samples and bounce-back coupons," Hurlbut noted.

"Get kids to drag their parents into your location. To help our car wash, we sent 2,500 coloring books with coupons inside to the local restaurants, churches and day-care centers," he said.

While balloons and giveaways are great to attract attention, don't forget to talk about the new format with people in your community, c-store executives advised.

Kevin Aydt, owner of Aydt Oil Company Inc., St. Louis, Mo., generated interest in his new store ? set to open this fall in Wildwood, Mo. ? even before starting a marketing and advertising blitz. The store, which is Aydt's second, measures 5,500 square feet and is constructed of very high-grade building materials, which Aydt said has prompted questions about the new format as locals watch the building go up.

"It really is generating quite a buzz and people always ask about it at [the kid's] T-ball and the soccer games," he said. "The materials on the building are so nice, I'd love to have my house made out of them. It doesn't look anything like a typical convenience store. By comparison, my first store is very conventional."

He admitted that there is a fine line between getting the word out and having people get sick of the hype. "You don't want them to be burned out. Of course, as a c-store operator you are excited about it. You've spent years on this. You've lived and breathed it. But you have to be sure people aren't tired of it by the time you finally open."

When he recently added a car wash to his first location, he said it did not need a great deal of promotion. Several factors led to a reduced need to market the new service, Aydt said, including the store's location and its longevity.

"We're across the street from a college, so it is pretty busy. We didn't have to do much to get the word out. And that store has been there for eight years. We are established; there was less of a need to tell people about a new offering. They saw it when they came by on their regular visit," he said.

Overstaffing is important in the first weeks following the opening of a newly refurbished store, or even with the addition of a new service, Hurlbut suggested. "It is easier to decrease staff if business is slow than to try and hire more people once you are overwhelmed," he said.



While you may love your fresh look and new offerings, don't forget to pay attention to customer reaction. Based on consumer feedback, you should be willing to make adjustments, Hurlbut said.

"Listen to your customers and tailor your location to meet their needs. Don't tailor it to make life easy for your employees and hard for your customers," he said.

And, Inland's Goodman advised, while you don't want to give away the store, a few free goodies to entice customers is a good marketing strategy.

Inland uses a gas card as a promotional vehicle for its new proprietary gasoline brand. "We have sent out preauthorized applications for our proprietary gas card, and if customers come in they leave with the card. We also give anyone filling out a card a free T-shirt," he said. The chain also offered reduced-price gas as an incentive for customers to check out the reimaged locations.

Offering some reduced-price items, such as 12-packs of soda for $1.99, is also a good plan, Goodman said. Don't be shy about working with vendors to be able to offer deals at the grand reopening. "Talk to your vendors about supporting the grand-reopening effort. It is a good opportunity for them to get some exposure as well," he said.

Inland has also done some live television remotes for grand openings. "We've done a little television promotion in the Alabama area," he noted, and the company has also worked with radio stations.

When Bartlesville, Okla.-based Phillips 66 Co. started revamping its company-owned convenience stores a little more than a year ago, it had an aggressive marketing strategy that included using live radio broadcasts and other local media.

However, the marketing efforts have been refocused. "We had this whole Kick Start new-store-opening plan and we've pulled back a little from that," said Stan Sehested, manager of corporate business promotion for Phillips 66, which operates 294 c-stores, including Kicks 66 outlets in 28 states. "It seems fundamental to want to tell everyone about it," he said. "But we've pulled back a little on that strategy to focus more on the internal things rather than the external promotion of the new store concept. We are making sure that we've got everything accomplished and the people trained."

The company opened 15 Kicks 66 stores and razed and rebuilt 13 units in 1999. Phillips plans to add about 30 new company-operated outlets each year, over the next several years. The company also plans to upgrade about a dozen existing outlets per year during that time. (For more information on the Kicks 66 concept, see "Planning a Partnership" in the May 29, 2000, issue of Convenience Store News, Page 33.)

Like Phillips 66, Sunoco Inc., based in Philadelphia, is focused on training and implementation prior to marketing its new store concept, Sunoco APlus. The rollout of the concept, which is about 85 percent complete, has meant an "intensive facelift," according to Paul Pinther, manager of convenience store marketing.

"We've gone with a softer feel, more rounded edges. We've cleaned up the signage and spent several million dollars upgrading the rest-rooms," he said.

The company has also upgraded the lighting and reworked several areas of the store, he noted.

"We've introduced a 'tobacco zone' and a new coffee offering with a proprietary brand," he said.

Exterior signage has also been streamlined and new trash cans put in place.

Pinther also noted that the company has focused on the look and performance of store personnel with new uniforms and improved training.

Continuing the good category management practices that a chain has developed over the years is just as critical as promoting the new store image, Pinther said.

"The brand-new interior is nice, but what really drives the business and keeps customers loyal is good category management," he said, because the new store design may impress customers at first, but they will be far less likely to return if stores do not have the right products and brands in stock.

The company has used promotions on a limited basis, he said. "We have quarterly gas promotions and we gave away a camera during the summer," he said. The stores also distributed materials at the point of sale highlighting the new design, Pinther noted.

Sometimes too much promotion early on ? especially remote broadcasts at grand reopenings ? can backfire, according to Wyatt Phillips, president of Tulsa, Okla.-based consulting firm Phillips, Johnson and Lamar Inc. and a former retailer with QuikTrip Inc. in Tulsa.

"The things people think of to do for a grand reopening ? particularly the radio remotes ? are not things I would necessarily recommend," he said. "Certainly, this draws attention to the store, but it can hurt more than it can help."

For instance, the parking lot can become crowded, discouraging customers who might be regular shoppers from making their usual stop.

He doesn't dispute that the giveaways will draw customers.

"Certainly people respond. But they are not necessarily the customers you can count on shopping your store every day. Some are cherry pickers, out for a bargain or a freebie," he said.

Consistent advertising over time is the best way to build a customer base, he said, but it does take time and money.

"It is not a quick fix. Things like price promotions have a relatively short life span. Your advertising has to be consistent and you really need a minimum of three years."

What makes the task of marketing a new convenience store particularly challenging, Phillips noted, is that the new look is often phased in over a period of years. The cost of these upgrades across all stores in a relatively short time is difficult, he noted.

"Because it is cost-prohibitive, it is difficult to have a consistent look to the stores. That makes it difficult to really market a new image, because you heighten customer expectations. If they are drawn into your store because you are hyping a new format, and don't see the same format when they go to another store, you run the risk of disappointing them. That is why I don't necessarily suggest building an ad or marketing strategy around a new store format," he said.

The best move you can make is to build your brand awareness, not just focus on the new look, he said. "Even the signs outside many convenience stores promote the fast food and the gas, and the convenience stores have left little room for themselves." Rather than advertise a store's new image, market the store or chain's identity, Phillips advised.

He noted that convenience store operators should focus on the exteriors of their stores as well as the interior. A clean look on the exterior and visibility from the street can go a long way in marketing a new image without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to make customers aware of the upgrade, he pointed out.

"Convenience stores really need to focus on how they can make themselves stand out. That is the ultimate marketing campaign," he said.

Phillips stressed that marketing a new store concept doesn't start with choosing new colors for the walls or redesigning the store's logo. C-store operators really need to survey their customers about the features they look for in a convenience store.

"Do your market research. Survey a hundred customers about what they want," he said. If the concept is built around customer demand, he noted, there will be less time and money needed for selling a new image because it will be designed specifically around customer needs.

Bob Lauman, marketing director for Lawrence Fabric Structure Inc., St. Louis, Mo., believes convenience stores are beginning to appreciate the need to boost brand awareness.

"The need for branding by convenience stores is becoming more and more important to their success," he said. "When they redo a store, they are looking to grow their identity with the consumer."