All Kum & Go stores will become Maverick.
https://csnews.com/maverik-rebrand-all- ... nce-stores
Maverick To Rebrand All Kum & Go Stores
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storewanderer
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Re: Maverick To Rebrand All Kum & Go Stores
I think they may be making a mistake in the core Kum & Go territories like Iowa, to do this.
But Kum & Go is not doing all that well from what I see even in their core territory. Their stores do not have many customers compared to Quik Trip or Kwik Star. I am not sure if Maverik is going to be able to draw in more customers but obviously there are costs involved in supporting two brands and if these sites already don't have many customers to begin with, bringing them under a single brand will reduce overhead.
Kum & Go sure has better iced tea than Maverik with more unsweetened flavors in their locations with "Go Fresh Market" food service operations.
They've already integrated in some regards with common bakery products (cookies, donuts, etc.) and common promotions.
When Maverik does the store conversions they should do something about one element of certain (not all) of the newer Kum & Go store design. This design has the checkout buried in a corner, on the opposite end of the store which is by c-store standards a long walk from the drink bar and the restrooms. There is no visibility from the cashier stand to the drink bar or restrooms which strikes me as a safety issue. Checkout should be relocated closer to the middle of the store.
But Kum & Go is not doing all that well from what I see even in their core territory. Their stores do not have many customers compared to Quik Trip or Kwik Star. I am not sure if Maverik is going to be able to draw in more customers but obviously there are costs involved in supporting two brands and if these sites already don't have many customers to begin with, bringing them under a single brand will reduce overhead.
Kum & Go sure has better iced tea than Maverik with more unsweetened flavors in their locations with "Go Fresh Market" food service operations.
They've already integrated in some regards with common bakery products (cookies, donuts, etc.) and common promotions.
When Maverik does the store conversions they should do something about one element of certain (not all) of the newer Kum & Go store design. This design has the checkout buried in a corner, on the opposite end of the store which is by c-store standards a long walk from the drink bar and the restrooms. There is no visibility from the cashier stand to the drink bar or restrooms which strikes me as a safety issue. Checkout should be relocated closer to the middle of the store.
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storewanderer
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Re: Maverick To Rebrand All Kum & Go Stores
They have an assortment of branded merchandise sold in their stores.
https://merchandise.kumandgo.com/
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storewanderer
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Re: Maverick To Rebrand All Kum & Go Stores
This is where Maverik is going to have problems. These Kum & Go territories are not the "mountain west" that Maverik is typically operating in. Maverik's marketing and theming attempts I expect will be lost on customers in these core Kum & Go territories.
Converting Kum & Go in CO/WY where Maverik already operated and which are basically still part of the mountain west was one thing, but it is a completely different situation in these other places. All I can say is I hope they have a low cost conversion package because in my opinion they are throwing good money after bad doing these conversions in places like Iowa. They'd be better off throwing that money to continue to build new stores (in their core territories) and just let Kum & Go continue in core territories as it is. Sure, make it into a Maverik in all but name (put in all Maverik products, loyalty card, etc.) but don't waste money rebranding.
Might be an optimal time for Quik Trip to announce a Utah entry and establish a Salt Lake City Division. That could be used to run "remote travel stop" locations out into Eastern Nevada, Wyoming, and Idaho if they wanted. Maverik won't be able to "buy them out" to make them go away, the way they did Kum & Go.
Converting Kum & Go in CO/WY where Maverik already operated and which are basically still part of the mountain west was one thing, but it is a completely different situation in these other places. All I can say is I hope they have a low cost conversion package because in my opinion they are throwing good money after bad doing these conversions in places like Iowa. They'd be better off throwing that money to continue to build new stores (in their core territories) and just let Kum & Go continue in core territories as it is. Sure, make it into a Maverik in all but name (put in all Maverik products, loyalty card, etc.) but don't waste money rebranding.
Might be an optimal time for Quik Trip to announce a Utah entry and establish a Salt Lake City Division. That could be used to run "remote travel stop" locations out into Eastern Nevada, Wyoming, and Idaho if they wanted. Maverik won't be able to "buy them out" to make them go away, the way they did Kum & Go.