Retail Watchers

Is it that they can't afford the upgrade, or they are maybe going to divest a lot of these sites?

A good chunk of Kangaroo Express (especially the literal garbage in Kansas) should be divested. The question will be, divest and franchise Circle K brand to some, or just divest and leave the market entirely.

I also noticed they did not do any system conversions at Kangaroo Express based on my trip to Florida earlier this year and Kansas more recently. Kangaroo runs a variety of platforms all old systems that need to be replaced.

Corner Store was using a similar acquisition strategy to Circle K. Buy things, but don't rebrand, and don't do system conversions. Flash Foods in Florida (more garbage) is another example of that strategy.

Circle K has more brands, systems, etc. than it is easy to even measure. Many of which are stores in such poor condition with such low standards for operations and cleanliness that without some major upgrades, the Circle K brand or any reputable brand should not even be on the locations.

I have noticed a lot of the legacy Circle K locations have gotten new gas pumps, such as the few corporate Circle Ks in NorCal, some in Las Vegas last year, etc.

I almost wonder if 7-Eleven could make a play for Circle K.

Based on this chain of events I think it may be more likely they will leave the Holiday brand alone.

storewanderer wrote:Is it that they can't afford the upgrade, or they are maybe going to divest a lot of these sites?

A good chunk of Kangaroo Express (especially the literal garbage in Kansas) should be divested. The question will be, divest and franchise Circle K brand to some, or just divest and leave the market entirely.

I also noticed they did not do any system conversions at Kangaroo Express based on my trip to Florida earlier this year and Kansas more recently. Kangaroo runs a variety of platforms all old systems that need to be replaced.

Corner Store was using a similar acquisition strategy to Circle K. Buy things, but don't rebrand, and don't do system conversions. Flash Foods in Florida (more garbage) is another example of that strategy.

Circle K has more brands, systems, etc. than it is easy to even measure. Many of which are stores in such poor condition with such low standards for operations and cleanliness that without some major upgrades, the Circle K brand or any reputable brand should not even be on the locations.

I have noticed a lot of the legacy Circle K locations have gotten new gas pumps, such as the few corporate Circle Ks in NorCal, some in Las Vegas last year, etc.

I almost wonder if 7-Eleven could make a play for Circle K.

Based on this chain of events I think it may be more likely they will leave the Holiday brand alone.

Historically, Circle K has been the one to rebrand. Their choice to take on UtoteM in the mid-1980s was a disaster, and saddled them with hundreds of old stores from the 1960s without gas pumps, which were just sold off or closed within five years anyway. At this rate, I'm not sure about Holiday either, they may end up pulling out.

7-Eleven won't make a play for Circle K, as that would require a lot of divestments in certain markets; besides, they've got their hands full with the whole Sunoco stores acquisition, and even after government-required divestments, they'll still probably ditch at least a quarter of those stores because they don't fit in with the 7-Eleven brand, or something.

looks the corner stores in california that are being rebranded to 7-eleven are switching to 76 gas.

Looks like Circle K is test-marketing a 5,000 square foot store that sounds awfully similar to the Corner Store Market stores CST Brands was doing...

http://www.macon.com/news/business/arti ... 44263.html

There are several new stores in Phoenix that have the same layout...similar to QT's design. In fact, change out the signage and you would have a QuikTrip. I have noticed the "miles" logo on the pumps...is this Circle K's new top-tier fuel?

pseudo3d wrote: ↑December 1st, 2017, 11:05 pm Looks like Circle K is test-marketing a 5,000 square foot store that sounds awfully similar to the Corner Store Market stores CST Brands was doing...

http://www.macon.com/news/business/arti ... 44263.html

Circle K was already testing this prior to its purchase of C STORES. A similar store opened south of Sulphur, LA at the beginning of this year.

I've seen Circle Ks in Phoenix and Las Vegas (maybe it was Henderson, on Boulder Highway) like this probably 5-6 years ago. They had the same problems most Circle Ks have, but did have a better selection of items and easier parking. Dirty, understaffed, and not entirely safe feeling, but it was okay for the .79 drink in the foam cup.

Was listening to the Houston radio today, and they've been running commercials about converting ("Valero Corner Store is proudly becoming Circle K") and announcing that they were running $0.79 Polar Pop drink promotions. There ARE a few Circle K stores in Houston but they only re-entered the market a few years ago. The funny thing is a lot of the Corner Store sites that pre-date 1994 or so WERE Circle K stores. They sold out to Stop N Go as part of a store trade, then Circle K went after NCS (which owned Stop N Go), forcing a sale to Diamond Shamrock, which became a part of Valero, which decided to turn the Diamond Shamrock generic "Corner Store" into a real brand name (retiring Stop N Go), which spun off, and THAT got bought by Alimentation, which owned Circle K.

I suspect we will see some quick sign changes but not much else changed with the Corner Stores. I wonder if they will keep the Valero gas branding.

Those Corner Stores were the "best" of the Valero brand... losing them does not help the network much.

pseudo3d wrote: ↑September 23rd, 2017, 12:14 pm

storewanderer wrote:Is it that they can't afford the upgrade, or they are maybe going to divest a lot of these sites?

A good chunk of Kangaroo Express (especially the literal garbage in Kansas) should be divested. The question will be, divest and franchise Circle K brand to some, or just divest and leave the market entirely.

I also noticed they did not do any system conversions at Kangaroo Express based on my trip to Florida earlier this year and Kansas more recently. Kangaroo runs a variety of platforms all old systems that need to be replaced.

Corner Store was using a similar acquisition strategy to Circle K. Buy things, but don't rebrand, and don't do system conversions. Flash Foods in Florida (more garbage) is another example of that strategy.

Circle K has more brands, systems, etc. than it is easy to even measure. Many of which are stores in such poor condition with such low standards for operations and cleanliness that without some major upgrades, the Circle K brand or any reputable brand should not even be on the locations.

I have noticed a lot of the legacy Circle K locations have gotten new gas pumps, such as the few corporate Circle Ks in NorCal, some in Las Vegas last year, etc.

I almost wonder if 7-Eleven could make a play for Circle K.

Based on this chain of events I think it may be more likely they will leave the Holiday brand alone.

Historically, Circle K has been the one to rebrand. Their choice to take on UtoteM in the mid-1980s was a disaster, and saddled them with hundreds of old stores from the 1960s without gas pumps, which were just sold off or closed within five years anyway. At this rate, I'm not sure about Holiday either, they may end up pulling out.

7-Eleven won't make a play for Circle K, as that would require a lot of divestments in certain markets; besides, they've got their hands full with the whole Sunoco stores acquisition, and even after government-required divestments, they'll still probably ditch at least a quarter of those stores because they don't fit in with the 7-Eleven brand, or something.

The French Canadians who run CoucheTard are a stubborn bunch which won’t sell the company-in fact while the rest of the companies world wide stores are rebranding to Circle K, the winking owl and C-T brand will stay in Quebec