Gas Stations

A 65,798-sq.-ft. neighborhood center in the Houston suburb of Greenspoint has been purchased for $15 million, or about $228 per square foot, according to the Chron website. Deal broker CBRE said that’s one of the highest prices paid for retail space in the area on a square-foot basis.  

Watch out, 7-Eleven and other c-store retailers. Amazon is thinking about entering your turf.   Having opened bookstores and with a planned entry into the drive-up grocery store space under construction in Seattle, the Internet giant is now considering opening convenience stores,  reported the Wall Street Journal.   The c-stores, with an internal code name of “Project Como,” would be available only to AmazonFresh subscribers, according to the report.  

The parent company of 7-Eleven wants to more than double its store portfolio in the United States.   Seven-Eleven Japan Co. is looking to open thousands of new stores in the U.S., increasing its current total of approximately 8,500 locations to 20,000, The Japan Times reported.    

Brookshire Grocery Co. is expanding its portfolio with a new, smaller-store store format.

The chain held three ribbon-cutting ceremonies on Sept. 13, completing the openings of 25 new Spring Market stores in Texas. The stores are located on former Walmart Express sites, which Brookshire acquired in July.

The stores bring Brookshire’s total store count to 177.

The fuel pump is becoming an increasingly critical customer touch point.

Often overlooked in the omnichannel experience, convenience store fuel pumps are a prime way to reach on-the-go shoppers. Extending their partnership with NCR, Rutter’s Farm is adding a new outdoor payment terminal to reach this time-pressed customer segment.

The fuel retail industry may innovate at a snail’s pace, but Shell Retail is bucking the trend.

Following a year-long proof-of-concept, the gasoline and convenience store retailer is embarking on an iPad-based point-of-sale (POS) deployment at dedicated locations. The robust cloud-based system is designed to centrally manage fuel stations and markets more effectively; ensure compliance with data security standards, and most importantly, improve the customer experience through the point-of-purchase.

Casey’s General’s Stores on Tuesday detailed an aggressive store expansion and renovation schedule along with record earnings for its first quarter.   The Iowa-based chain expects to build or acquire 77 to 116 stores, replace 35 existing locations, and complete 100 major remodels in its current fiscal year. Currently, it has 39 new stores under construction, including its first store in the state of Ohio.  

On the heels of the biggest deal in its history, Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. has entered into yet another deal to expand its U.S. footprint.   The retailer has signed an agreement to buy 53 stores in Louisiana, primarily in the Baton Rouge market, from American General Investments and North American Financial Group for an undisclosed price.    

Quik Mart Stores has made the move to LED lighting.      The Tucson, Arizona-based convenience store/gas station chain replaced the existing fluorescent and HID interior and exterior lighting with solid state LED lighting at 25 locations in the Tucson market.     The retrofit was completed by SCS Energy Solutions Corp.’s SCS Lighting Division, which also developed a solution for beverage and freezer cooler lighting, as well as enhancing existing merchandise displays.  

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is expanding its U.S. portfolio yet again.   In its biggest acquisition to date, the Canadian convenience store retailer has agreed to buy CST Brands Inc. for $48.53 per share in cash, with the total deal valued at $4.4 billion, including debt.   Couche-Tard operates more than 12,000 locations globally under several brands, including Circle K. Last year, Couche-Tard acquired The Pantry for about $1.7 billion, including debt, adding more than 1,500 stores to its U.S. footprint.