As we all know, the last month has brought devastation to various parts of our country. Hurricanes in Texas and Florida. Wildfires in Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington state. Heat waves in New York and New Jersey. These natural events have had a huge impact on individuals, communities, and businesses. We operate stores in all […]

As we’ve expanded our operations over the last few months (we are currently operating sites in 9 states), I’ve been reminded how consistent training is so important to a successful operation and an engaged team.  It’s a topic that I keep coming back to on a regular basis – as you can see from my […]

Everyone knows that theft is a major issue in the convenience store industry.   The general public hears about robberies in the media all of the time.  Convenience stores are caricatured as easy places to rob.  Many of our stores are open 24 hours a day giving people with bad intent places to go late at […]

There is not a more analog job than driving a long haul truck.  In this profession, everything is rooted in the real world.  The trucks, trailers, and cargo exist.  They are tangible.  And they go from one place to another in real time through real space in the real world. This week I am attending […]

A few weeks ago I attended the NACS Leadership Assembly in Miami (which I highly recommend, by the way, if you can get an invitation).  One of the objectives of the LA is to look over the horizon to see threats to the c-store business of the future. The main topics of this year’s session […]

My apologies for my absence from the site over the last few months. 2015 was a very busy year for us.   We expanded our business by including more sites into our program through handling several “distressed” sites during foreclosures and receiverships and by adding more long-term sites with owners who want to own and control […]

During this cycle of posts I’ve been writing about the need to stay competitive to survive in the retail world.  In the last post I started on the need to listen to a specific group of constituents  – customers, employees, and competitors – to determine what you need to do to stay competitive.  We’ve started […]

In retail, every day is a new day.  With each sunrise, your competitors are thinking of ways to steal your customers and employees, take away your sales, and, in general, put you out of business.  Every day a business owner has to think of ways to move her business forward – better customer service, products, […]

When you think about customer service and the retail experience, what are your memories?  I would venture to guess that in ninety percent of all of your retail interactions the customer service you received didn’t make an impression on you.  Think about it, when you are outside the house you may participate in several, if […]