Circle K Lowers Prices on Drinks

[Alpha8472]

Circle K lowered prices for fountain drinks and Frosters to 79 cents from May to and 69 cents for Rewards members on the app.

Drink prices are outrageous at other gas stations especially at Chevron.

https://csnews.com/circle-k-puts-dispen ... -spotlight

[storewanderer]

First off most of these Circle Ks in CA especially NorCal are franchises/dealer sites and they do not even participate in the Circle K app. This is the first problem.

After they price increased all of their drinks and made the cup sizes smaller. In SoCal the price was 1.29 and the largest available cup was like 28oz last week, that was at a corporate site, and it did not appear they were participating in the app (Mobil branded fuel and ringing up sales on a Mobil cash register not a Circle K register though they had both registers present). This was in a town that appeared to have a foam ban, maybe in some other locations they still have a 40oz cup.

In fall 2023 they were still "Polar Pop starting at 79 cents" in Arizona and Las Vegas (exterior signage at many locations advertised this) so the 20oz foam cup was 79 cents, but then it seemed as exterior signage got updated the starting price rose to 89 cents on the 20oz.

But this is sure making McDonalds and their "any size 1.49" - if you're lucky - look stupid.

AM PM in NV/AZ has been running 69cent 42oz and 89cent 52oz basically every month since last spring...

Maverik keeps running any size up to 30oz at 89cents. They went off promotion in maybe January for a few weeks but then went back on.

7-Eleven keeps running 89 cent 30oz.

I am surprised to see these promotions. Just goes to show the value of competition.

[Brian Lutz]

Haven't been to a Circle K here in a while, but I know they've been running $1.29 32 ounce Polar Pop drinks for as long as I've been here, and it's not uncommon for them to run promos to add a Circle K branded snack item for $1 with a drink purchase. The main issue I've seen with Circle K is that they can be rather inconsistent from store to store with actually maintaining their soda fountains. Some stores seem to do a pretty good job, but I've been to some that had multiple flavors unavailable, ice dispensers not working or one or more sizes of cups/lids unavailable at any given time.

[wnetmacman]

First off most of these Circle Ks in CA especially NorCal are franchises/dealer sites and they do not even participate in the Circle K app. This is the first problem.

With Circle K, there are several brands. Circle K is normally company owned.

Over the years, Couche Tard also bought Kangaroo and On The Run (From ExxonMobil). Those two are generally the franchise sites.

[HoustonRetail]

I'm a serial soda drinker and noticed the price drop last week. In Houston, we're still Starting at 79 Cents at the normal price, and the cashier rang me up for 86 Cents for an XL. I honestly thought she was just being nice and double-checked it was correct before I paid. The XL was $1.19 previously, which is the same price point Buc-ees and Quick Trip use. Stripes were around that price, but prices were raised when they converted to 7-Eleven. Our only other really relevant chains are locals, Star Stop, and the recently purchased by Shell Timewise; both have their XL around $2. Independents are usually above that.

[storewanderer]

I'm a serial soda drinker and noticed the price drop last week. In Houston, we're still Starting at 79 Cents at the normal price, and the cashier rang me up for 86 Cents for an XL. I honestly thought she was just being nice and double-checked it was correct before I paid. The XL was $1.19 previously, which is the same price point Buc-ees and Quick Trip use. Stripes were around that price, but prices were raised when they converted to 7-Eleven. Our only other really relevant chains are locals, Star Stop, and the recently purchased by Shell Timewise; both have their XL around $2. Independents are usually above that.

Last summer I found those former Stripes 7-Eleven units around Houston had a "refill" price of 79 cents under 44oz which was fantastic. Up in Dallas the price was way higher like $1.59 or something similar to what I see out west.

[storewanderer]

First off most of these Circle Ks in CA especially NorCal are franchises/dealer sites and they do not even participate in the Circle K app. This is the first problem.

With Circle K, there are several brands. Circle K is normally company owned.

Over the years, Couche Tard also bought Kangaroo and On The Run (From ExxonMobil). Those two are generally the franchise sites.

This isn't how it works in the west. Most of the Circle Ks are franchise units in CA, OR, and WA. Especially NorCal. They have very few corporate sites in NorCal. Throughout CA they have dumped off many sites that were once corporate sites and transferred them to franchisees, some of whom keep Circle K branding and some of whom do not. These franchise units do not use Circle K POS systems and in some cases do not offer all of the Circle K programs (many do not sell "Froster" at all). They do not do Sip & Save. In some cases the items on their shelves are not Circle K items. It is not unusual for them to charge extra fees to pay with credit/debit cards either. These are loosely overseen by a unit called Circle K "West."

If you have a franchise Circle K in NorCal you are responsible for your own fuel. Most brand with Chevron or 76. So there have been sites in the past with a Circle K Store but weird unbranded fuel (nothing referencing Circle K on the gas pumps- random like HWY 1 GAS or some weird thing).

They were bringing Kangaroo to CA but stopped and there are none anymore. Not sure what happened. They have never run On the Run in CA; they bought a block of On the Run sites from ExxonMobil (corporate sites) in SoCal some time ago and converted those to Circle K branding long ago. ExxonMobil did not franchise On the Run in CA.

In Las Vegas Circle K has mostly corporate sites but also has some what they call "dealer" sites. These Circle K "dealers" use the Circle K POS system and are required to participate in all programs/promotions (app, etc.). The stores are merchandised just like a corporate Circle K. To the customer there is really no difference between these sites and a corporate Circle K. These Circle K "dealers" also sell Circle K unbranded fuel and the fuel operation is fully branded and supported by Circle K. These are overseen by Circle K Arizona. I assume there are sites with this arrangement in Arizona too but I've never knowingly come across any.

And now that I think about it in OR/WA since the Andretti sites debranded their stores from Circle K, and Circle K Corporate took over a string of ARS-Fresno sites (former Tesoro and Shell multi site operator) maybe OR/WA which has very few Circle Ks as it is, the majority of the sites there may actually be corporate sites now.

So CA continues to be the oddball spot with all these flung franchise Circle Ks.

[storewanderer]

Circle K West, even corporate locations, do NOT participate in the "Inner Circle" app. Further I was told there is no promotion for 79 cent any size drinks or Frosters, however when I bought one, I was charged the 79 cents. No tax on non-carbonated beverages in CA- be sure to tell the cashier if that applies to you- there is a button to ring the drink up as NC (non carbonated) in CA.

So it appears the promotion exists out west for 79 cents any size at least at the corporate locations...

I wonder if this chain is preparing to exit CA/OR/WA entirely and that is why they don't run the Inner Circle app in these states. Maybe this is also why so many franchise sites are leaving the Circle K brand. Every time I go into NorCal I notice additional Circle K franchise sites who have debranded from Circle K. There are almost none left around Sacramento; a few really awful corporate sites and just a couple dealer sites left.

I know they're building some new stores in CA and recently did the acquisition of the ARS-Fresno sites in OR/WA but they are so far behind competition in store count... might be time to just pack it up.

All of these Circle Ks that are corporate use the same cash registers so it isn't some kind of a system issue.

[Alpha8472]

My nearest Cirkle K in Concord in the San Francisco Bay Area rebranded from Circle K recently. It is now a Diamond Gas station and convenience store with some of the cheapest gas in the area at $4.89 a gallon.

It was a tiny Circle K that was just a bit larger than a cashier booth. The gas used to be Shell before Diamond Gas.

A new Circle K is being built near me. I looked on the Circle K website and it showed the coming soon locations.

I have noticed that the local Circle K stores want to charge for using credit cards. I had an ExxonMobil card and the gas pumps were ExxonMobil, but the Circle K cashier wanted to charge a fee.

[storewanderer]

My nearest Cirkle K in Concord in the San Francisco Bay Area rebranded from Circle K recently. It is now a Diamond Gas station and convenience store with some of the cheapest gas in the area at $4.89 a gallon.

It was a tiny Circle K that was just a bit larger than a cashier booth. The gas used to be Shell before Diamond Gas.

A new Circle K is being built near me. I looked on the Circle K website and it showed the coming soon locations.

I have noticed that the local Circle K stores want to charge for using credit cards. I had an ExxonMobil card and the gas pumps were ExxonMobil, but the Circle K cashier wanted to charge a fee.

Yeah one of these franchise sites in Woodland had so much trouble with people filling drinks then wanting to pay with a card but leaving after hearing about a 75 cent card fee for under $5, some other fee for under $10, that they posted their card fee policy by the soda machines... probably customers who were used to the corporate sites in Yuba City and Davis who didn't have card fees. That Woodland site since left Circle K.

Also had issues with card use at a franchise Circle K up around Chico some years ago. I think they were trying to have a $5 minimum or something.

This type of thing is why Circle K needs to impose a standard point of sale system on the franchisees and force them to accept all methods of payment a customer shows up with no questions asked and no pushback or additional fees. You hang a Circle K sign- you accept all methods of payment. You want to charge card fees, minimum purchase amounts, play games on what the fee or minimum is depending if it is credit or debit, charge all debit cards a fee because you think it is cute and customers will put up with it since Arco does it- great- you can be "FOOD MART" then and not Circle K.

7-Eleven does this- standard POS system and that is required period for store transactions (franchise sites can do whatever they want with gas and many even run it through a separate register). I have NEVER encountered a 7-Eleven with any card fee, minimum purchase amount, or any of this type of hassle for 7-Eleven store products. For all 7-Eleven does wrong this is something they got right 20+ years ago.