Speedway/7-Eleven integration

Gas stations & convenience stores (AM/PM, 7-Eleven, etc.)
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Re: Speedway/7-Eleven integration

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: May 23rd, 2022, 5:55 pm7
Went to the built from the ground up Speedway in Irvine last night. I wish I hadn't. This was my favorite convenience store in town and now it is just a 7-Eleven in name only. Nearly all aisles and refrigerated cases have been converted to 7-Eleven assortment now, or I should say lack of assortment. Speedway had really creative flavors of chips available that sometimes sounded scary, like a Pizza flavor and Fire Roasted Corn, but they were actually pretty good. All gone. The soda machine is fully rebranded with Big Gulp signs and of course the 99 cent any size drink is gone. The big size has doubled in price. They removed the Speedway Club card kiosk, yet some sales still require the club and there is no longer a way to sign up in store - brilliant. But the worst is that the Speedy Freeze machine is broken, still Speedway sign and cups, but a big price sticker that says Slurpee pricing. The price has tripled for the same product. And it is clear that cleaning and maintenance has been slashed. The gas pumps were always shiny and new looking because they were sprayed and wiped down daily. Now they are the filthiest pumps in town - aside from the 7-Eleven on Irvine Center. The bathrooms used to be spotlessly clean, I can't imagine how bad they probably are now too. 7-Eleven is a bad joke. I feel like they are intentionally running the Speedway brand into the toilet before they convert it to their name just to make sure they don't have to do any work later on to protect the trademark as it will be so bad nobody will ever resurrect it.
Yes, they shut down the Speedy Choice product brand at the end of the year and have been moving through leftover product.

I am surprised they have continued to source the Speedway cups. For a while last summer they had plain cups with no printing then the Speedway cups returned late last year right as they put those signs up about Big Gulp and Slurpee. Of course Big Gulp and Slurpee are nothing more than a sign and a giant price increase for the same product dispensed out of the same old machine. If you want to see irate customers go over to the Speedway Facebook, people are complaining constantly about everything that is going on.

I guess Circle K is the place, at least for now...

Also 7-Eleven converting a bunch of no c-store gas stations I guess these were mostly former USA or Thrifty Gas that really shouldn't have any brand on them to "Speedway Express" that are run by dealers does nothing for the Speedway brand which has always been a controlled corporate brand. Cannot even believe that hut in Long Beach by the Amazon Fresh that acts as a gas station (I guess that was a longtime Arco). I shouldn't knock it as it sold me gas for 5.69, at least they did put the Chip reader in there so I felt safe using pay at the pump unlike at the unit they converted to 7-Eleven I went to that downgraded the pumps to swipe only again (...unbelievable). Of course I still had to go visit the hut for a receipt so I may as well have paid the hut too. The hut still has signs up about a debit card fee, I guess they manually assess that if you do a payment at their hut, as the Speedway payment network does not do that on its own the way the Arco payment network does.
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Re: Speedway/7-Eleven integration

Post by HCal »

luckysaver wrote: February 18th, 2022, 1:35 am In some parts of CA such as LA and SF, styrofoam food packaging (including drink cups) are banned by local ordinances citing environmental reasons, so eateries and c-stores had to switch to paper or the hybrid type cups (paper layer wrapped around foam). Remember when McDonalds had foam coffee cups in the 1990's? However, anybody can still mass purchase foam cups from Smart & Final, Amazon, or a foodservice supplier and serve drinks at private events in the very same jurisdictions that banned foam packaging.
In some jurisdictions, if the private event requires a city permit of any type, or is taking place in a city facility, then they also enforce the ban on styrofoam.

A non-profit I am part of learned this the hard way around 10 years ago. Thankfully the city just gave us a warning and told us to pay more attention in the future.
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Re: Speedway/7-Eleven integration

Post by HCal »

storewanderer wrote: May 24th, 2022, 1:02 am
Also 7-Eleven converting a bunch of no c-store gas stations I guess these were mostly former USA or Thrifty Gas that really shouldn't have any brand on them to "Speedway Express" that are run by dealers does nothing for the Speedway brand which has always been a controlled corporate brand.
The funny thing is that they (at least the ones I've seen) just say "S Express" so many people don't even recognize them as a Speedway if they aren't already familiar with the logo.

I think their goal is to convey that it is a Speedway gas station without a convenience store. The brand is probably supposed to lend some credibility to the quality of gas and increase the price they can charge to a higher level than a no-name station.
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Re: Speedway/7-Eleven integration

Post by storewanderer »

HCal wrote: May 25th, 2022, 12:21 am
storewanderer wrote: May 24th, 2022, 1:02 am
Also 7-Eleven converting a bunch of no c-store gas stations I guess these were mostly former USA or Thrifty Gas that really shouldn't have any brand on them to "Speedway Express" that are run by dealers does nothing for the Speedway brand which has always been a controlled corporate brand.
The funny thing is that they (at least the ones I've seen) just say "S Express" so many people don't even recognize them as a Speedway if they aren't already familiar with the logo.

I think their goal is to convey that it is a Speedway gas station without a convenience store. The brand is probably supposed to lend some credibility to the quality of gas and increase the price they can charge to a higher level than a no-name station.
I agree. The Speedway Express come off as an unbranded gas station that is a generic. I don't think Speedway has much name recognition on the west coast in the first place though I do think in some of the areas in CA where they converted an actual mass of stores to Speedway corporate stores with the Speedway store and programs, they ran some strong promotions to build customer traffic and gain some following. In OR/WA which is 100% Speedway Express the brand is useless, they could have named the stations anything.

But the thing is Speedway is a convenience store brand. Gas is secondary. Speedway has never marketed its gasoline as anything special. It does not pay for the Top Tier certification despite that it is the same gasoline as Marathon (which does pay for the Top Tier certification).

This story would have gone much differently, had Marathon retained Speedway and gone forward with the previous plans. I also doubt there would be many if any Speedway Express units (they'd all be corporate Speedway units) and I suspect they would have bought out a good number of Arco dealers and converted those to Speedway corporate units in CA/NV.

Some convenience store chains have tried to, to some extent, market their unbranded gasoline. You have Quik Trip and its "guaranteed gasoline." You have Holiday and its "blue planet" gasoline. Even Circle K over the years put on the pump "quality gasoline." Speedway- none of that. Just a S logo on the gas pump and promotions for the c-store. And that is why Speedway Express (which is something I have only seen in CA/OR/WA/Alaska) makes no sense because the brand has never focused on the gas or marketing the gas in any way.
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Re: Speedway/7-Eleven integration

Post by jamcool »

QuikTrip gas is Top Tier, Circle K is not (at least in Arizona)
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Re: Speedway/7-Eleven integration

Post by arizonaguy »

jamcool wrote: May 25th, 2022, 7:57 am QuikTrip gas is Top Tier, Circle K is not (at least in Arizona)
Arizona isn't a great market for branded gasoline. The biggest players here are QuikTrip (Top Tier), Circle K (not Top Tier), and Fry's Food and Drug (not Top Tier).

What branded stations there are tend to either be Arco, Shell or Chevron (with Chevron stations being 10 - 20 cents a gallon higher than everyone else).
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Re: Speedway/7-Eleven integration

Post by Romr123 »

That's an interesting observation--presume they were in the Calso (Chevron/Standard of California) orbit, but without a refinery presence perhaps there wasn't much "local love" for them...doubt that imports from Mexico were a consideration. I collect old oil company road maps---going to have to do some research on Arizona!
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Re: Speedway/7-Eleven integration

Post by SamSpade »

Off Topic
Sorry to go offtopic, but Romr123, Mobil used to be widespread around Phoenix. I assume something after the Exxon merger stopped that.
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Re: Speedway/7-Eleven integration

Post by jamcool »

Circle K bought most of the Mobil sites (most were OnTheRun stores) in Phoenix in the 2000s. The Mobil-branded sites here are independent operators, the same with Shell, 76, Sinclair, and now Marathon.
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Re: Speedway/7-Eleven integration

Post by storewanderer »

jamcool wrote: May 25th, 2022, 2:04 pm Circle K bought most of the Mobil sites (most were OnTheRun stores) in Phoenix in the 2000s. The Mobil-branded sites here are independent operators, the same with Shell, 76, Sinclair, and now Marathon.
The Phoenix Mobil sites sold to Circle K were corporate operated sites. These lost Mobil branding in AZ when Circle K took over. Circle K bought the corporate Mobil sites in SoCal in the same deal and for whatever reason those stations to this day still have Mobil branding.

Mobil has come and gone from NorCal a couple times in the past 20 years. I think they may "stick" this time but time will tell. Chevron is so strong and dominant in NorCal, with many dealer operated gas stations, you get your station to carry Chevron fuel if you can because the other brands are just not so popular in NorCal. Chevron commands the highest price and has the highest number of Chevron-card carrying customers in the region.
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