Grant Thornton LLP white paper identifies emerging trends in the convenience store market

CHICAGO, July 6, 2010 – As Americans have become more time-constrained, convenience stores have become a beacon in the retail sector. An increasing number of consumers are turning to convenience stores for their purchases, growing the business to a projected $52.8 billion in 2010, not including gas revenues. Moreover, the industry appears to be poised for continued growth. In the next five years, convenience stores revenues in the United States are projected to increase by an average annual rate of 3.9 percent to reach $63.9 billion by 2015.

Grant Thornton LLP’s national Retail practice has created a new white paper, A roadmap to success: Convenience stores on the fast track, to help convenience store companies identify trends affecting the industry. The white paper touches on both big-picture trends, such as merger and acquisition activities, as well as trends in technical areas that may get overlooked as executives grapple with strategic issues.

“The convenience stores business is complex, fast-moving and rife with challenges, such as shifting consumer preferences, intensifying competition from mass retailers, volatile gas prices, multiple legal and regulatory compliance obligations, around-the-clock staffing and operations, and growing consolidation of stores and chains,” said Mark Wuller, Grant Thornton Audit partner and the firm’s national Retail practice leader. “Consumer demands and tastes change frequently, calling for innovation across an extensive range of products and services. Introducing new products and making other operational changes can be expensive and — if new products, processes or systems are implemented poorly — can undermine the very profitability and growth that they are intended to deliver.

“Convenience stores also must be able to maintain strong communication between employees at the point of sale and upper management, who must disseminate and implement the insights and best practices out to the company’s network of stores,” continued Wuller. “It’s a tall order and not all stores fare equally well in the face of these challenges.”

The white paper identifies emerging issues that convenience store management need to keep on top of, including: shifting consumer preferences; volatile gas prices; employee engagement; and mergers and acquisitions. It also has lists of ideas for management personnel to consider as they evaluate what’s right for their organization.

“This roadmap is a formalized set of guidelines and best practices delineating how to run a convenience store at the level of the individual store unit,” said Wuller. “Effectively a how-to guide, the roadmap serves as a means of standardizing operations for an organization comprising multiple geographically dispersed units that deliver essentially the same product or service nationwide — while meeting changing customer expectations and addressing issues within local markets.”

To download a full copy of A roadmap to success: Convenience stores on the fast track, please go to www.GrantThornton.com/Cstores.

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