We’ve all driven down the motorway thinking we need to stop at a service area but wait just in case the next but one will have an M&S Simply Food or a Leon or a McDonald’s. Likewise, with non-motorway petrol stations, most drivers have a choice but the one they favour may be due to the fuel brand, the loyalty programme or the shop fascia.
Similarly, forecourt retailers have a choice of brands they choose to do business with – from food-to-go options such as Greggs or Subway or Costa to shop fascias which could be a symbol group or part of a grocery multiple’s stable.
The Asda Express name is now seen on many forecourts thanks to the grocery mults’ purchase of Co-op and EG Group stores.
Meanwhile, Morrisons Daily is gaining ground thanks to MFG’s purchase of Morrisons’ forecourt business, with all the forecourts being rebranded as Morrisons Daily.
Another Top 50 Indie with a love of the Morrisons Daily fascia is Rontec, which is Morrisons’ longest-standing Morrisons Daily franchise partner, having opened one of the first Morrisons Daily stores in Leicester in 2016.
The recent opening of a Morrisons Daily store in Knowsley, north-east of Liverpool, meant Rontec and Morrisons had reached the significant milestone of 100 stores together. This means Morrisons now has over 600 franchise stores at fuel forecourts and other convenience locations around the country.
Rontec chairman, Sir Gerald Ronson CBE, says: “We have invested significant capital into upgrading our Morrisons Daily sites and have developed a strong convenience and food-to-go offer for our customers.
“Our teams work extremely well together, with both teams striving to deliver the highest standards and levels of service in all our stores.”
Traditional route
Other Top 50 Indies have stuck with traditional symbol groups to get the best out of their c-store business.
Top 50 Indie MPK now has all its 28 sites supplied by Nisa. Retail director Wayne Harrand says the reason is simple – the group’s flexibility.
“In a nutshell, Nisa gives us the flexibility to enhance our range and change the products as and when we need to – across all our sites with their different locations and their different needs. They are flexible across a large demographic.”
Wayne also lists deliveries – with most of MPK’s sites getting three a week but the busiest ones getting four; brand choice – with the Co-op brand in particular; offering attractive prices; and good case sizes as reasons why MPK sticks with Nisa.
“Different locations mean different sites have different strengths. Some are grocery led while others are more fresh led and Nisa can accommodate us on this. Co-op’s fresh range is very good and works very well for us, particularly the sandwiches and chilled snacks.”
Good fit
Some symbol groups are a better fit to a business’s way of working than others. Top 50 Indie Plaistow Broadway Filling Stations has five sites – three with Budgens stores and two with Nisa but is now converting the two Nisa ones to Budgens too.
Area manager Sharon Hughes explains why: “For us operationally, Budgens works better. We enjoyed being with Nisa but the way Budgens works, works better for us – and having all the stores under one fascia will definitely be good.”
Of course, Plaistow will no longer have access to the Co-op brand. Sharon says: “Co-op is a good brand but how well it does depends on the location of your site. In one of our sites it did reasonably well, but our other Nisa site had a Co-op store nearby so it didn’t do so well there. With Budgens we have access to the Jack’s value brand.”
Budgens has always been known for its comprehensive chilled and fresh ranges and Sharon says they are good, particularly for snacks and on-the-move items. “They are also good with their pack sizes. We can get smaller sizes from Budgens which helps us at our smaller stores.
“Budgens has a lot of promotions that are refreshed every few weeks and the margins are better on those too.”
Sharon praises Budgens, in particular, for its seasonal promotions: “They are very good seasonally with great promotions for Halloween and Christmas. The 12 weeks of Christmas is especially good and they provide lots of free pos material so you can really show off the offers in store.”
Plaistow stores typically get two-to-three deliveries a week but its busiest site gets four.
Sharon says the relationship with Budgens has definitely got better over the years.
“To begin with they might have tried to get us to take 12 different cheeses, for example, but now we identify what sells and what doesn’t in each of our sites and tell them exactly what we need. They have definitely helped us grow our business but we work together. Our RDM Tom Tibbetts is really good. He understands the shopfloor and how it all works so is really helpful.”
Another Top 50 Indie, JP&S, has partnered with Booker for its Londis and Budgens fascias.
Director Priyanth Yoganathan says: “Our relationship with Booker extends over 20 years and we have a strong relationship with our retail sales manager.
“Furthermore, the new Londis fascia is modern and has an appealing design which we believe works very well.”
Fully stocked
Finally, a move from Premier to Spar is working out well for the Patel family in Clacton-on-Sea in Essex. Nash and Sharlie Patel run the forecourt and c-store with their son Veer.
“We were always being approached by other symbol groups to sign up with them but always said no, until earlier this year,” says Nash. “We were having problems with availability and felt Spar would be better for that. We thought they would be better all round.
“The move was done very professionally and went really smoothly. And our customers are delighted with the switch because we have more products in stock, more of the time – no more empty shelves.”
The store was given a fresh new look and new food-to-go section.
The chilled section has been newly re-laid to help customers find items for all meal occasions, while the wine range has tripled in size and the beer cave layout has been changed to make space for more products.
A large range of Spar own-label products have been mixed with more branded impulse and grocery products.
“We take most of the Spar brand range and also the promotions – our customers like the promotions,” says Nash.
Veer Patel adds: “We have a wide customer base – from holidaymakers to local people living in the community, to transient drivers using the forecourt – and as the only Spar store in the area, we have a great opportunity to catch a growing number of shoppers who will come in to do a top-up shop or a full shop.”
Blakemore Trade Partners is the Spar wholesaler the Veers deal with. Stuart Ware, head of new business there, says: “We have been delighted to provide the team with range and layout alternatives in order to make the most of the local and visiting footfall to accommodate the variety of customers using the store throughout the year.
“Our detailed understanding of customers and missions and the translation into macro and micro space has informed the store plan as we look to drive basket spend and footfall. This is driven by detailed data analytics, plus a knowledge of our company-owned store estate performance.”
