Race Way, Race Trak, Sold Off

[storewanderer]

What is the situation with this chain Race Trak?

Going around Dallas I see a good number of Race Trak stations and these seem to be pretty high quality stations, busy, well located, with decent programs. They were quick on checkout and seemed to have ample staffing levels. I think I dealt with this chain elsewhere in the past and also was happy with it, but cannot clearly recall. They are priced competitively on their drink offer with multiple brewed unsweetened tea flavors that are time marked and with clean equipment, and overall if they are "on the right side of the road" I'd just stop at them as opposed to "going across the street" to a Quik Trip.

However some of these stations seem to be turning into something called "Race Way" and the store in "Race Way" is horrible. It no longer has much prepared food, prices are higher, coffee program is downsized significantly, no more brewed iced tea, and prices are not clearly posted on any of the dispensed beverages. There is no ice cup price (full price of soda for that) and the employees don't seem to wear uniforms or anything. The location I went into had signs up stating that you can "franchise a store like this in your neighborhood" with a link to visit.

So is this company basically trying to sell locations off to franchisees then when they do that, they rebrand it to "Race Way?"

Now there was another location I saw in Dallas at 7057 Greenville Ave. that appears to have been a Race Trac very recently, had repainted pumps etc. in Race Way Colors (blue) all looking very freshly painted, but it is now actually not a Race Trac or a Race Way but some generic thing completely unbranded. I wonder what the story on this site is. And why it is not a Race Way but debranded entirely from their network.

[mbz321]

I think you mean 'RaceTrac'. I don't know too much about them other than what you alluded to...RaceTrac stations are corporate units and RaceWay stations are franchises.

[storewanderer]

I think you mean 'RaceTrac'. I don't know too much about them other than what you alluded to...RaceTrac stations are corporate units and RaceWay stations are franchises.

Yes, it is RaceTrac.

[architect]

I am local to the DFW market. Over the past several years, RaceTrac has been selling off locations which have either been underperforming or which were old sites that could not be feasibly brought up to brand standards. This first kicked off several years with a block sale of stores to 7 Eleven. Since then, RaceTrac has been gradually selling off individual stores to franchises, generally converting to the Raceway brand in the process (though occasionally the new owner will convert to another brand). The Greenville Ave. store you mentioned is an oddity because even though the store is newer, it is located near a high crime area just to the east (Vickery Meadow) and tends to be an inconvenient location due to traffic backing up along Greenville. A similar scenario happened at a location along Forest Ln. years ago adjacent to the DART Forest Lane Station. Homeless individuals would camp out around the DART sign and would hang out at the Racetrac during the day, scaring away customers and causing nuisance calls to police. For several years, the station was closed down and fenced off due to the crime problems at the property. Eventually, after neighborhood pressure regarding the vacant building, Racetrac extensively renovated and reopened the station for a couple of years before eventually selling to 7 Eleven. The only truly consistent competitor in the market is Quiktrip (I'm not counting 7 Eleven since so many of their stores are franchised), so it is surprising that Racetrac is seemingly struggling so much. By comparison, I have only seen a couple of instances within DFW where Quiktrip has closed a store without a replacement nearby, and these locations have generally been low traffic sites which are no longer conducive to their business model (an example of this is on Park Blvd. in Plano just east of 75, where a Quiktrip was sold and converted to a Shell station several years ago).

[storewanderer]

I was somewhat surprised RaceTrac's offer is quite comparable to QT and they are efficient. Neither seems to have the best gas prices but just prices gas similar to others in the general area (just have to drive around to find the best gas prices and buy at the right "spot"-best deal I got was 3.09 at some random Murphy around Frisco or Plano).

I've seen QT sell stores to others quite a few times. Some years ago they left Springfield, MO and sold the stores to Casey's. Somewhat more recently they left some IL suburbs of St. Louis and the stores ended up with Circle K. There is a random one in NE somewhere that Kroger got and I assume is still with EG Group.

QT seems to be better equipped to operate in tough neighborhoods. They will also not be 24 hours if they feel it isn't a good idea, and they have armed security in some tough parts of Tulsa. Some of their recent market entries in places like Houston and Chicago they have put up an initial store in what I consider to be quite tough neighborhoods. Despite sites that are well lit and have heavier staffing levels than most c-stores I am not sure if it is enough. One thing I notice on these newer sites is perhaps the "walking distance" between the pumps and the store is too far, and many pumps do not have a clear view from inside the store. In the case of one of the suburban Chicago locations newly opened just in August, something has already occurred very unfortunate and occurred only two weeks after the unit opened.

[wnetmacman]

I think you mean 'RaceTrac'. I don't know too much about them other than what you alluded to...RaceTrac stations are corporate units and RaceWay stations are franchises.

Yes, it is RaceTrac.

RaceWay is more than a franchise - RaceWay property is still owned by RaceTrac, but is operated by a franchisee. They get the building to do as they please, plus get IT support and a fuel supplier, but otherwise operate the store as they want. While RaceTrac stores are largely consistent, RaceWay stores vary in their offerings and services. Most are former RaceTrac stores repurposed for the new operator. I have both near me; I'd far rather go to a RaceTrac store.

[storewanderer]

I noticed in the Race Way there was the "RW" logo on all of the shelf tags in the store. Since it had just converted the shelves were fully stocked and merchandised. Does the corporate also serve as a supplier or is the supplier just doing special shelf tags like that? The merchandising and items looked in no way similar to a RaceTrac at all, more of a push toward grocery items.

It was funny how the aisles looked this way, clearly priced, yet the dispensed beverages were not priced at all and those areas were just not well thought out at all.

I think RaceTrac's pay at the pump may be the fastest chip processing on a gas pump I've ever seen. And the tap function- a fraction of a second from tap to "remove nozzle."