Four reasons why Foxtrot will succeed

They understand urban. It’s difficult to operate retail stores in an urban environment. However, Foxtrot had figured out how to attract quality employees and deliver a distinctive experience. Their customer counts were strong in a majority of their stores.

Customers prefer shopping in smaller stores. This has been a trend in retailing for some time.  Consumers continue to visit multiple stores during the week either in person or online but still want to save time. A vast majority of convenience purchases are impulse buys, and the customer has decided less than an hour before that they have a need.  Foxtrot filled that need with a great selection of curated products and fresh, quality food and beverages, along with an amazing alcohol assortment.

Fresh, quality products win. Foxtrot is building a hybrid grocery and convenience business that does not rely on gas or nicotine products to drive traffic. The holy grail for convenience retailers and travel centers of all shapes and sizes is building a restaurant business. The vision is to create a customer destination that helps stem the tide from the loss of gasoline and diesel sales. Foxtrot’s young brand image, fresh food and beverages, and compelling multi-daypart merchandise section is a winner.

Foxtrot now has a do-over opportunity. Like most turnaround stories, I bet they have learned much to improve sales and profitability without impacting the customer experience: Expanded hot and cold made-to-order beverages, inclusion of must-have mainstream grocery and convenience merchandise, and improving seasonal relevance. The concept has lower overheads, less shrink, better real estate selection and more.