Rumor: EG Group for Sale

[TempoNick]

EG's thing was supposedly "brands". They like to leverage major brands to generate traffic and they don't seem to be doing that in the United States.

They are Esso's largest retailer in the UK/EU. If I'm EG, I would make a deal with Exxon to start putting up Esso signs whereever they can. I know for a fact they can do that in the old Esso and Mobil states where they owned the rights to Standard Oil and in BP's Standard Oil States. (Do that just as a hook to get you in the door. But they have to get the inside of the store right first.)

Their newer stores aren't bad, but they were much better when they had the Kroger brands and pricing.

[storewanderer]

EG's thing was supposedly "brands". They like to leverage major brands to generate traffic and they don't seem to be doing that in the United States.

They are Esso's largest retailer in the UK/EU. If I'm EG, I would make a deal with Exxon to start putting up Esso signs whereever they can. I know for a fact they can do that in the old Esso and Mobil states where they owned the rights to Standard Oil and in BP's Standard Oil States. (Do that just as a hook to get you in the door. But they have to get the inside of the store right first.)

Their newer stores aren't bad, but they were much better when they had the Kroger brands and pricing.

That would cost money- I don't think EG Group wants to spend much money on existing sites. They only want to spend money to buy more properties (or take on more debt is more like what they have been doing). But I will say this - about a month after the fraud shift at gas pumps last year, they installed new pumps at all of their non-EMV gas pump sites in my area (which was most of their sites) so the fraud losses must have been so significant so fast that they decided to get compliant. Kroger had already done EMV hardware (not software) upgrades at half of the c-store sites before they sold them and EG stopped that initiative in its tracks when they took over. Of anyone you would think EG Group would understand the importance of EMV processing given they are from E where EMV has been in place for a long, long time.

The other problem is EG Group is already tied up with various gas brands at some of the chains they've bought like Minit Mart which works with numerous gas brands (probably every one of them given it is such a hodgepodge mess of patched together little c-stores). The Kroger sites I believe were all unbranded when sold to EG (some used to have Conoco or Citgo branding but I think those all went unbranded fuel over the years) and focused on lower priced gas.

I do like this Cumberland Farms coffee program though. I like the taste of the coffee and the iced coffee options that are available. For .99, it is a great value.

[storewanderer]

Went to franchise (I guess) Quik Stop again tonight. Still no Cumberland Farms coffee program, but does have the cups. Commented on the cups and the employee did not even know what Cumberland Farms was- said they thought they sent them someone else's cups but was very proud of the fact that they did just get the lids in that fit the cups, and hadn't had lids that fit the cups for a couple weeks. Gas price was the lowest in the immediate area.

Also still no EMV at the gas pump despite all the equipment being there and all the other locations with the same equipment having it. And of course cannot use Kroger loyalty at the pump either.

Can't wait for EG Group to sell out.

[TempoNick]

Went to franchise (I guess) Quik Stop again tonight. Still no Cumberland Farms coffee program, but does have the cups. Commented on the cups and the employee did not even know what Cumberland Farms was- said they thought they sent them someone else's cups but was very proud of the fact that they did just get the lids in that fit the cups, and hadn't had lids that fit the cups for a couple weeks. Gas price was the lowest in the immediate area.

Also still no EMV at the gas pump despite all the equipment being there and all the other locations with the same equipment having it. And of course cannot use Kroger loyalty at the pump either.

Can't wait for EG Group to sell out.

Do you think everything is going become Cumberland Farms? We have both Turkey Hill and Certified here. Not sure if either brand is strong enough that anybody would miss them. Don't know about any of the other areas where they have stores, though.

[storewanderer]

In Reno there are now radio ads for Quik Stop advertising Cumberland Farms Coffee. The offer is for a free cup every Friday in October, no purchase necessary.

The radio ads sound like they are done by local DJ and just voice, no marketing slogan or music or anything else, but they do say Quik Stop a few times during the ad so it is very clear where you need to go to obtain this free coffee.

Also getting some radio ads for Circle K advertising a 5.99 one soda or one coffee per day subscription. There is only one Circle K in Reno and one in Incline Village and last I asked at the Reno one they knew nothing about any subscription program. Maybe that has now changed. One is Shell, one is 76, and use cash registers associated with the oil brands and don't seem to participate in much to do with Circle K programs.

[pseudo3d]

EG's thing was supposedly "brands". They like to leverage major brands to generate traffic and they don't seem to be doing that in the United States.

They are Esso's largest retailer in the UK/EU. If I'm EG, I would make a deal with Exxon to start putting up Esso signs whereever they can. I know for a fact they can do that in the old Esso and Mobil states where they owned the rights to Standard Oil and in BP's Standard Oil States. (Do that just as a hook to get you in the door. But they have to get the inside of the store right first.)

Their newer stores aren't bad, but they were much better when they had the Kroger brands and pricing.

I don't think ExxonMobil would want to tarnish the historic Esso brand like that. It's like Gulf, which was mostly retired by Chevron years ago (late 1980s, early 1990s?) except for a few stores in the Northeast. Cumberland Farms actually bought it entirely (for a while) but since then it has appeared on other stations...and yet, if the "new" stores in Houston are any indication, it's only on the old, trashy stores that time has passed by. All the halfway respectable stations and new-build stores in the city are generally going to be Exxon, Chevron, or Shell.

[Brian Lutz]

I'm not sure most people in the US would recognize the Esso brand anymore, as it hasn't been in use in the US for quite a while now. I'm guessing some steps need to be taken to show some current use of the brand in order to retain the trademark (similar to how Chevron has one Standard branded station in each state they operate in) but the brand does also remain in use in Canada so that might cover it.

[wnetmacman]

I'm not sure most people in the US would recognize the Esso brand anymore, as it hasn't been in use in the US for quite a while now. I'm guessing some steps need to be taken to show some current use of the brand in order to retain the trademark (similar to how Chevron has one Standard branded station in each state they operate in) but the brand does also remain in use in Canada so that might cover it.

Exxon has been using the Esso trademark in each state they hold the Standard operations in, but sneakily. The Synergy arch over the pumps has three logos: Exxon, Mobil - and Esso. This keeps the trademark going.

[Alpha8472]

I do not like the Synergy branding. Before , they had the Tiger or Pegasus logo. That looked really good. You remember the Tiger, but Synergy is easily forgotten.

They need to have some brand recognition and the Tiger or Pegasus is the best.

[storewanderer]

Quik Stop has added numerous Cumberland Farms brand packaged goods.

Many items are involved in promotions- buy various bottled beverages, get a free Cumberland Farms snack item. The beverage/snack combinations vary. The best net for net one is buy Snapple (1.79) get free trail mix (1.69 value).

These snacks are integrated into the shelves and there is also a freestanding display near the checkout area well stocked with various items. There is also an endcap with a very wide variety of bagged chips (mostly at a 1.09 price point).

Also Quik Stop at least in NV has discontinued the policy of having a 35 cent system-applied (like Arco) surcharge for debit card use. Who knows what type of odd games some franchise Quik Stops may try to play with the system no longer assessing this, but customers used to the old policy.

Items include:
various chips - single serve and full size bags
trail mixes/nuts
bagged coffee
bagged cookies
bagged candy- sugar (jelly bean, gummy, etc.)
bagged candy- chocolate (coated nuts, etc.)
candy bars- chocolate
freeze dried fruit (product of China)


The variety of items is perhaps the largest I've seen in a c-store and they have some very good looking items they are running under this brand. The packaging is also professional and well designed.

I am glad to see this EG Group figured out Cumberland Farms was something worth keeping. Their operation of the assets acquired from Kroger has been poor, but bringing these Cumberland Farms programs into these stores might just be the thing that helps get the stores back to having an appealing/unique offer again. What is funny is while Kroger focused on running with a way heavier than usual number of private label grocery items, this Cumberland Farms label is focused solely on snack foods which is probably more appropriate for a c-store anyway.

This strategy also doesn't seem anything like what EG Group said it was going to do when it bought the US assets, saying they were going to bring in nationally recognized brands like their overseas operations. It actually seems the opposite of what they said.