Page 8 of 9

Re: Circle K acquiring "Corner Store"

Posted: June 25th, 2018, 5:03 pm
by pseudo3d
pseudo3d wrote: April 29th, 2018, 3:16 pm Went to a local "Corner Store" today, and it seems to be a process.

- The Circle K promotional signage is all up, including "Security by Circle K" on the outside.
- Fountains and Froster machines are all Circle K, didn't pay attention to the coffee machine especially
- No internal Circle K décor, all of it is turquoise due to being a Valero Corner Store (not the yellow logo)
- Employee uniform still said Corner Store
- Receipt still said Corner Store
- A few Circle K products (like chips) but others (pork cracklins, candy, baked goods) were all Corner Store/Corner Store Market brand.

The deal closed less than a year ago, and I guess I should be happy I'm seeing this much. I don't expect to see much from Stripes in a while, though store closures I'll be on the lookout for....
Went back to said store, and while the Corner Store products are hanging around (including the bags for the donut display, I don't know where they get their donuts from...the old Circle K stores prior to the sell-off in the early 1990s in Houston used Dunkin', and Dunkin' are pretty mediocre at best...but I don't know how the existing donuts taste), the uniforms (but not nametags), and the receipt said Circle K.

Re: Circle K acquiring "Corner Store"

Posted: June 26th, 2018, 10:42 pm
by storewanderer
pseudo3d wrote: June 25th, 2018, 5:03 pm
pseudo3d wrote: April 29th, 2018, 3:16 pm Went to a local "Corner Store" today, and it seems to be a process.

- The Circle K promotional signage is all up, including "Security by Circle K" on the outside.
- Fountains and Froster machines are all Circle K, didn't pay attention to the coffee machine especially
- No internal Circle K décor, all of it is turquoise due to being a Valero Corner Store (not the yellow logo)
- Employee uniform still said Corner Store
- Receipt still said Corner Store
- A few Circle K products (like chips) but others (pork cracklins, candy, baked goods) were all Corner Store/Corner Store Market brand.

The deal closed less than a year ago, and I guess I should be happy I'm seeing this much. I don't expect to see much from Stripes in a while, though store closures I'll be on the lookout for....
Went back to said store, and while the Corner Store products are hanging around (including the bags for the donut display, I don't know where they get their donuts from...the old Circle K stores prior to the sell-off in the early 1990s in Houston used Dunkin', and Dunkin' are pretty mediocre at best...but I don't know how the existing donuts taste), the uniforms (but not nametags), and the receipt said Circle K.
Some Corner Stores have an in-store bakery program for various of their items including donuts, cookies, whoppie pies... others would be from the random donut vendor of the neighborhood...

Re: Circle K acquiring "Corner Store"

Posted: June 27th, 2018, 4:57 am
by rwsandiego
arizonaguy wrote: June 20th, 2018, 1:27 pm
pseudo3d wrote: June 20th, 2018, 11:12 am
jamcool wrote: June 20th, 2018, 6:50 am Gas brands come and go in the Phoenix market, 76 and Mobil have returned, Sinclair seems to be popping up everywhere, there are still a few Diamond Shamrock and Texaco sites
There are still Diamond Shamrock stores in Phoenix?! I thought Valero had converted them all, as they had announced 10 years ago, and one by one they all eventually closed or converted to Valero (during this time, the Stop N Go name was also discontinued in favor of Corner Store).
There were/are. I am not sure how much longer they'll be around as I believe all Valero/Diamond Shamrock branded stations will either become Circle K or Fast Mart / Fast Fuels.
I just saw a Shamrock station on 16th south of Roosevelt yesterday. The signage looked new.

Re: Circle K acquiring "Corner Store"

Posted: June 27th, 2018, 7:14 pm
by storewanderer
rwsandiego wrote: June 27th, 2018, 4:57 am
arizonaguy wrote: June 20th, 2018, 1:27 pm
pseudo3d wrote: June 20th, 2018, 11:12 am

There are still Diamond Shamrock stores in Phoenix?! I thought Valero had converted them all, as they had announced 10 years ago, and one by one they all eventually closed or converted to Valero (during this time, the Stop N Go name was also discontinued in favor of Corner Store).
There were/are. I am not sure how much longer they'll be around as I believe all Valero/Diamond Shamrock branded stations will either become Circle K or Fast Mart / Fast Fuels.
I just saw a Shamrock station on 16th south of Roosevelt yesterday. The signage looked new.
Some work on Google Maps moving around the cross street across from the station seems to put an image from May 2014 with Shamrock imaging.

Re: Circle K acquiring "Corner Store"

Posted: June 27th, 2018, 10:49 pm
by rwsandiego
storewanderer wrote: June 27th, 2018, 7:14 pm
rwsandiego wrote: June 27th, 2018, 4:57 am
arizonaguy wrote: June 20th, 2018, 1:27 pm

There were/are. I am not sure how much longer they'll be around as I believe all Valero/Diamond Shamrock branded stations will either become Circle K or Fast Mart / Fast Fuels.
I just saw a Shamrock station on 16th south of Roosevelt yesterday. The signage looked new.
Some work on Google Maps moving around the cross street across from the station seems to put an image from May 2014 with Shamrock imaging.
Funny you posted about that because I drove past there again this AM and was able to get a longer look at it thanks to being stuck in traffic. Some of the signage looks rather old. I first noticed it early this week but was whizzing past (no traffic). The station is not on my typical route to work, but due to construction I've been taking a new route.

Re: Circle K acquiring "Corner Store"

Posted: June 28th, 2018, 6:08 am
by arizonaguy
rwsandiego wrote: June 27th, 2018, 10:49 pm
storewanderer wrote: June 27th, 2018, 7:14 pm
rwsandiego wrote: June 27th, 2018, 4:57 am
I just saw a Shamrock station on 16th south of Roosevelt yesterday. The signage looked new.
Some work on Google Maps moving around the cross street across from the station seems to put an image from May 2014 with Shamrock imaging.
Funny you posted about that because I drove past there again this AM and was able to get a longer look at it thanks to being stuck in traffic. Some of the signage looks rather old. I first noticed it early this week but was whizzing past (no traffic). The station is not on my typical route to work, but due to construction I've been taking a new route.
I drove past that station yesterday. The signage on the pumps looks rather new but on the building it appears to be old.

I believe Shamrock is the "value" brand in the Valero portfolio. I believe most of their other locations that were either branded as Diamond Shamrock or Valero will now become Circle K or Fast Market / Fast Fuels as they were CST locations. There is a location on my daily commute (near AZ 51 / Greenway Rd.) that is still bannered as Valero and doesn't appear to have changed any branding on the convenience store portion. I haven't stopped inside to see, however.

Re: Circle K acquiring "Corner Store"

Posted: June 28th, 2018, 7:43 pm
by rwsandiego
arizonaguy wrote: June 28th, 2018, 6:08 am
rwsandiego wrote: June 27th, 2018, 10:49 pm
storewanderer wrote: June 27th, 2018, 7:14 pm

Some work on Google Maps moving around the cross street across from the station seems to put an image from May 2014 with Shamrock imaging.
Funny you posted about that because I drove past there again this AM and was able to get a longer look at it thanks to being stuck in traffic. Some of the signage looks rather old. I first noticed it early this week but was whizzing past (no traffic). The station is not on my typical route to work, but due to construction I've been taking a new route.
I drove past that station yesterday. The signage on the pumps looks rather new but on the building it appears to be old.

I believe Shamrock is the "value" brand in the Valero portfolio. I believe most of their other locations that were either branded as Diamond Shamrock or Valero will now become Circle K or Fast Market / Fast Fuels as they were CST locations. There is a location on my daily commute (near AZ 51 / Greenway Rd.) that is still bannered as Valero and doesn't appear to have changed any branding on the convenience store portion. I haven't stopped inside to see, however.
That's exactly what I noticed the second time I drove past the store. My normal route to work is Roosevelt to 11th to Van Buren, but construction took me to 16th. The neighborhood is definitely "value brand" territory.

Re: Circle K acquiring "Corner Store"

Posted: June 28th, 2018, 10:01 pm
by jamcool
There are still a number of Valero-branded stations in Phoenix, operated by independent c-store operators, that are not tied to CST/Circle K or Empire.

Re: Circle K acquiring "Corner Store"

Posted: June 29th, 2018, 10:36 pm
by storewanderer
jamcool wrote: June 28th, 2018, 10:01 pm There are still a number of Valero-branded stations in Phoenix, operated by independent c-store operators, that are not tied to CST/Circle K or Empire.
It will be interesting to see what happens to those 10-15 stations. Some of those are former CST outlets so they are tied to CST's fuel arrangement.

Valero is totally out of Tucson.

Re: Circle K acquiring "Corner Store"

Posted: July 4th, 2018, 12:12 pm
by SamSpade
The only Valero for miles & miles around here is in Hood River, Oregon. I had to stop there today and ughhhh what a dog.

Old pumps, terrible restroom.