Maverik to enter California

SamSpade
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Re: Maverik to enter California

Post by SamSpade »

There were only 2 kinds of coffee. They used to have 5-6 I believe. The machine that dispenses powdered coffee and hot chocolate had the wrong product in the button I pushed. Styrofoam cups.

There were no dough wrapped Bahama Mamas and some really sad, old pizza for $5.99. I don't remember seeing any of the large bakery cookies they used to have.

The gas pumps were okay though. The store seemed pretty clean with floor markers to remind people of distancing requirements. Restroom was clean.
Last edited by SamSpade on March 2nd, 2021, 10:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Maverik to enter California

Post by storewanderer »

SamSpade wrote: March 1st, 2021, 9:57 pm There were only 2 kinds of coffee. They used to have 5-6 I believe. The machine that dispenses powdered coffee and hot chocolate had the wrong product in the button I pushed.

There were no dough wrapped Bahama Mamas and some really sad, old pizza for $5.99. I don't remember seeing any of the large bakery cookies they used to have.

The gas pumps were okay though. The store seemed pretty clean with floor markers to remind people of distancing requirements. Restroom was clean.
Sounds like typical Maverik. Great idea poorly executed (and as you mention with the 5.99 pizza- overpriced). Not enough labor or labor not working efficiently enough to properly run the store. They don't maintain their food/drink offering on a consistent basis. Iced tea is not consistently brewed anymore either. One location I go to seems to have stopped it completely as the tea urns are turned backwards and brewing equipment is missing parts every time I go in. Maybe they need new parts and just don't bother. The only two kinds of coffee is a frequent thing in Reno in the afternoon/evening (and you may find them empty or lukewarm too). Unlike Jacksons they do not offer to brew on demand if they don't have what you want. They don't have enough staff to brew on demand anyway when only one or two clerks are on duty in a busy 5,000 square foot c-store. Jacksons with one employee and few customers can better do brew on demand I guess. Jacksons coffee is more to my liking anyway.

It is not unusual for locations to have few to no bakery items at all some days (probably due to staff call ins). The excellent cookies still exist as I see them in the locations I visit most of the time as do the very good muffins.
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Re: Maverik to enter California

Post by MaverikSD »

storewanderer wrote: February 27th, 2021, 11:33 pm
cjd wrote: February 27th, 2021, 7:01 pm Interesting. All the Walmart gas stations around here are under the Murphy brand either in the Walmart parking lot or in an adjacent property. There's no convenience store but just a booth with a window where you can pay and buy drinks, snacks, motor oil, etc.
Murphy is a business independent to Wal Mart and just leasing space in the parking lot. Up until a few years ago, Murphy had an agreement to build gas stations on Wal Mart lots in certain states and until recently built stations quite rapidly on Wal Mart lots.

Tesoro had the agreement for the other states (first branded as Mirastar, most later rebranded to USA Gasoline) but did not have good financial success and most of theirs are closed but there are still a few around. Tesoro did not open a new station on a Wal Mart parcel in more than 15 years. One of the last Mirastars Tesoro built was in Fort Morgan, CO and did have a small c-store but they did not go forward with the concept and that location closed sometime around 2017-2018 so it lasted a lot longer than most. Tesoro quit accepting Wal Mart credit cards and Wal Mart gift cards at its Wal Mart lot stations a decade ago but for some reason they are still a tenant at some locations despite at this point not having any synergy or connection to Wal Mart.

So a few years ago Wal Mart basically terminated future development with Murphy and said they would be building stations themself on their lots going forward but all the stations Murphy had built so far, Murphy would continue to operate. And Murphy would continue to partner with Wal Mart on gift card acceptance, credit card acceptance, etc. At the time Wal Mart said they were going to rapidly build stations. So far I have not seen many of these- there is the one in Boise mentioned here. There is of course one in Bentonville in front of a newer Neighborhood Market.

I've always had the assumption their relationship was closer than ever, rather than separating. As a Walmart+ subscriber, they are now offering 5 cents off per gallon at Murphy's as a perk. This was recently added just a few months ago.
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Re: Maverik to enter California

Post by MaverikSD »

storewanderer wrote: March 1st, 2021, 11:10 pm
SamSpade wrote: March 1st, 2021, 9:57 pm There were only 2 kinds of coffee. They used to have 5-6 I believe. The machine that dispenses powdered coffee and hot chocolate had the wrong product in the button I pushed.

There were no dough wrapped Bahama Mamas and some really sad, old pizza for $5.99. I don't remember seeing any of the large bakery cookies they used to have.

The gas pumps were okay though. The store seemed pretty clean with floor markers to remind people of distancing requirements. Restroom was clean.
Sounds like typical Maverik. Great idea poorly executed (and as you mention with the 5.99 pizza- overpriced). Not enough labor or labor not working efficiently enough to properly run the store. They don't maintain their food/drink offering on a consistent basis. Iced tea is not consistently brewed anymore either. One location I go to seems to have stopped it completely as the tea urns are turned backwards and brewing equipment is missing parts every time I go in. Maybe they need new parts and just don't bother. The only two kinds of coffee is a frequent thing in Reno in the afternoon/evening (and you may find them empty or lukewarm too). Unlike Jacksons they do not offer to brew on demand if they don't have what you want. They don't have enough staff to brew on demand anyway when only one or two clerks are on duty in a busy 5,000 square foot c-store. Jacksons with one employee and few customers can better do brew on demand I guess. Jacksons coffee is more to my liking anyway.

It is not unusual for locations to have few to no bakery items at all some days (probably due to staff call ins). The excellent cookies still exist as I see them in the locations I visit most of the time as do the very good muffins.
While I don't manage Maverik locations close to you specifically, I'm sorry you're having a bad experience.

With coffee, we are implementing bean-to-brew programs at 200 locations later this year which will pick up the variety and freshness when you arrive.

Usually, depending on weather, we'll brew up to eight different flavors of coffee from 3am to about 10am when the demand dies off, and then will brew our House and Columbian blends for the rest of the day. If you have a minute, we will brew any flavor not available to you. It's a waste reduction purpose, as we'll likely discard about 20-25 gallons of coffee daily if we brew all flavors regardless of demand.

As for the warmer items, that's unfortunate. It's definitely a missed opportunity for the store and for the customer alike when these items on demand aren't immediately available while their Bonfire Grill locations are open.

I promise I'm not here to customer service any complaints you have - I'm just a guy from within who discovered a thread about Maverik in California.
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Re: Maverik to enter California

Post by SamSpade »

Thanks Maverik Store Director, I appreciate the feedback.
I wish they would move over to Portland, convenience here is pretty zzzz (Jacksons has some larger locations).
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Re: Maverik to enter California

Post by storewanderer »

SamSpade wrote: April 29th, 2021, 12:39 pm Thanks Maverik Store Director, I appreciate the feedback.
I wish they would move over to Portland, convenience here is pretty zzzz (Jacksons has some larger locations).
Plaid Pantry does pretty well with its candy selection... also the cooler selection in the Downtown Vancouver location was quite good. But for dispensed beverage/prepared food Plaid Pantry barely puts out an effort any different today than what would have passed as an effort in 1988.
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Re: Maverik to enter California

Post by bryceleinan »

storewanderer wrote: April 29th, 2021, 11:38 pm
SamSpade wrote: April 29th, 2021, 12:39 pm Thanks Maverik Store Director, I appreciate the feedback.
I wish they would move over to Portland, convenience here is pretty zzzz (Jacksons has some larger locations).
Plaid Pantry does pretty well with its candy selection... also the cooler selection in the Downtown Vancouver location was quite good. But for dispensed beverage/prepared food Plaid Pantry barely puts out an effort any different today than what would have passed as an effort in 1988.
I haven't been in Plaid Pantry for years. Dari Mart in Eugene is decent, as are the Lil' Pantry stores.
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Re: Maverik to enter California

Post by storewanderer »

bryceleinan wrote: April 30th, 2021, 7:46 pm
I haven't been in Plaid Pantry for years. Dari Mart in Eugene is decent, as are the Lil' Pantry stores.
Dari Mart is very, very similar to Plaid Pantry. Almost would say they are affiliated if I didn't know otherwise.
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Re: Maverik to enter California

Post by storewanderer »

I went to a Maverik today that was remodeled recently. The "Bon Fire Grill" counter had reduced its hours to 5 AM to 10 AM on Saturday and Sunday. It was very busy at the location late this afternoon. They actually put a new sticker on the hours of operation sign to show the new hours so it did not appear to be temporary. What is the point of even having this Bon Fire Grill open at all?

Also I bought one drink for .79 and used loyalty card on the transaction for the punch card and used credit card to pay. My receipt is at least 18 inches long for this transaction. Not sure if they are trying to beat CVS on receipt length or what. They did ask if I wanted the receipt or not. I suspect most don't get one.
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Re: Maverik to enter California

Post by Alpha8472 »

What was on the receipt that made it so long?
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