by John Keller | Apr 5, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Industry News
Convenience Store News released their list of the “Top 20 Growth Chains” and three PriceAdvantage customers made the list.
Fikes Wholesale, the parent company of CEFCO Convenience Stores, made the list for the second straight time. They improved on their 10th place ranking in 2012 to a fifth place ranking in 2013. CEFCO added 61 new stores last year, a 31% increase year over year, bringing their total count to 255 stores as of December 2012. CEFCO has been using PriceAdvantage as their complete fuel price management solution for over three years.
Valero Corner Stores has also made the list for two straight years, ranking eighth in both 2012 and in 2013. In 2013, Valero Corner Stores added 34 stores, bringing their total company owned store count in the US to 1030 as of December 2012. Valero rolled out PriceAdvantage to all their stores in 2012.
Sheetz is another repeat c-store chain on the list with a 2013 ranking of 12th, an improvement from their ranking of 17th in 2012. Sheetz added 23 stores last year, bringing their total store count to 434 as of December 2012. Sheetz has been using PriceAdvantage for their fuel pricing since 2009.
The PriceAdvantage team is proud to have such strong partnerships with CEFCO, Valero, and Sheetz, and we are proud to share in their success.
by John Keller | Mar 8, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Pricing Software, Fuel Pricing Strategy
Congratulations to Scott Hartman for his induction into the PCATS Hall of Fame, from all of us at the PriceAdvantage team. Scott has always been a thought leader in the c-store industry, and his visionary guidance has made a big impact on making PriceAdvantage the industry-leading fuel pricing software that it is today.
Scott’s leadership enabled Rutter’s to first roll out PriceAdvantage to all their stores beginning in early 2011. The Rutter’s implementation of PriceAdvantage included a complete command and control solution that included their Radiant (now under the NCR corporate umbrella) POS systems, as well as their Skyline electronic price signs.
Then in the latter half of 2011, Scott’s vision extended the Rutter’s PriceAdvantage implementation to include a GasBuddy integration. Scott recognized that the world of retail fuel price management includes virtual as well as physical signage. Scott led Rutter’s to incorporate their retail fuel price marketing into their overall retail fuel price management strategy by having PriceAdvantage automatically push fuel price updates to GasBuddy once PriceAdvantage finished the fuel price changes. This solution insures Rutter’s always has the most accurate and up-to-date prices on the GasBuddy sites.
What’s next for Scott’s vision for PriceAdvantage? Now that PriceAdvantage can push fuel price updates to OPIS, just like to GasBuddy, Rutter’s will be able to make sure all sites receiving fuel pricing information from OPIS will also have the latest and most accurate Rutter’s fuel prices. With the PriceAdvantage integration to OPIS, Rutter’s will be able to automatically push prices out to AAA, Garmin, and MapQuest, as well as a growing number of sites partnering with OPIS.
Thanks again, Scott. We couldn’t have done it without you. And we look forward to a continued strong partnership with Rutter’s for years to come.
by John Keller | Feb 9, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management, PriceAdvantage, Retail Fuel Margins
Valero announced in their 2012 end of year financial results that margins were up and volumes were steady.
Margins for the quarter were at $0.208 per gallon up from $0.139 in 2011. For the entire year, margins were up from $0.144 in 2011 to $0.162 in 2012.
Volumes per day per site for the quarter and for the year were relatively steady, down only 1.6% for the quarter, and up .004% for the year. According to the US Energy Information Administration, 2012 fuels demand was down .3%. That means Valero gained market share in 2012.
According to the report, Valero’s retail segment reported $95 million of operating income in the fourth quarter of 2012 versus $83 million of operating income in the fourth quarter of 2011. The increase in operating income was mainly due to higher fuel margins in the U.S., which was somewhat offset by lower fuel margins and a non-cash asset impairment loss of $9 million before taxes in Canada. For the full-year 2012, the retail segment generated $348 million of operating income, and those results were second only to the 2011 record-high results of $381 million.
We at the PriceAdvantage team would like to congratulate the Valero retail fuels group on their success in 2012. The fourth quarter of 2012 was the first full quarter when PriceAdvantage was in production at all the 1000+ Valero company stores.
by John Keller | Jan 10, 2012 | Customer News, Industry News
Fikes Wholesale, Inc., long time PriceAdvantage customer, has added 63 more stores to their CEFCO chain, bringing their total store count to 257 stores in seven states. When Fikes first rolled out PriceAdvantage it was to all the 123 stores in their chain. The Fikes fuel price management team quickly saw the benefits of PriceAdvantage as they were able to optimize fuel prices more quickly, reviewing and sending prices to all stores in less than one hour where it once took most of the morning.
Since rolling out PriceAdvantage, Fikes has grown their store count significantly, acquiring 69 stores from the Food Fast chain, two stores from another chain, and then 63 Taylor Food Mart stores.
The PriceAdvantage team is proud to support Fikes in their success.
by John Keller | Nov 29, 2011 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management Solutions, Fuel Pricing Technology
PriceAdvantage, a division of Skyline Products, announced today that The Spinx Company has been using PriceAdvantage at its 65 Spinx stores across the Carolinas. PriceAdvantage, a fuel price management solution, has given Spinx the ability to make better fuel pricing decisions given the real-time intelligence provided for each store, such as competitor survey data, volume histories and retail margins.
Spinx stores also utilize PriceAdvantage to feed price changes to the Radiant POS systems, pump and Skyline electronic price signs with the one click technology that is unique to PriceAdvantage.
“We couldn’t be happier that PriceAdvantage has replaced our previous fuel pricing solution”, says Stewart Spinks, founder and CEO of The Spinx Company. “It is a superior tool in that it gives us the ability to pull historical data easily, manage multiple price changes per day and provide a user-friendly interface at the headquarters and store level.”
Spinks adds, “We have found that our store managers are spending about 45% less time entering data into the system since we began using PriceAdvantage, giving them more time to focus on customers.”
Aaron McHugh, Head of PriceAdvantage division, adds “It’s invigorating to hear from an Industry Hall of Famer like Stewart Spinks that PriceAdvantage is providing The Spinx Company with a more efficient and effective fuel pricing tool.”
Stewart Spinks was recently inducted into the Convenience Store News Industry Hall of Fame for being a convenience store pioneer and innovator.
PriceAdvantage is a highly specialized retail fuel pricing solution for the Convenience Store industry, designed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of a retailer’s pricing process. PriceAdvantage provides automation for the entire fuel pricing process, from collection of competitive surveys, to efficient and detailed analysis for best price determination, to rapid speed-to-the-street price change execution. The ability to change prices immediately at the POS, fuel pumps and electronic price signs from the centralized headquarters location with one click makes the solution unique in the industry.
About The Spinx Company
With The Spinx Co.’s leading edge technology and exceptional customer service, the company is “Making Life Easier” for customers. Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Spinx operates 65 convenience retail stores in South Carolina and North Carolina. Founded in 1972 by Stewart Spinks, today the company is the largest privately held gasoline-convenience retailer in South Carolina and is ranked among the top U.S. convenience store chains in the country. For more information, visit www.spinx.com.
About Skyline Products
Skyline Products is the leading developer, manufacturer and provider of fuel pricing and central control software, electronic price displays and dynamic message signs to the fuels, transportation, and government vertical segments in North America. The PriceAdvantage division allows fuel retailers to collect competitive data, determine optimized fuel pricing and automate price changes at the POS, fuel pump and electronic price signs, creating a streamlined closed loop fuel pricing process. Company headquarters are located in Colorado Springs, CO. For more information about Skyline Products please visit www.skylineproducts.com or www.sellmoregas.com.
by John Keller | Nov 17, 2011 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management, Fuel Price Management Solutions
Stan Sheetz, the CEO of Sheetz Inc., said in a Fox TV interview that Sheetz will be opening 100 new stores in North Carolina over the next 8 years. Sheetz has previously announced that North Carolina and West Virginia are its top markets for expansion.
Mr. Sheetz also said in the interview that when a new store opens, they open with a “very, very aggressive” fuel price. State laws in North Carolina allow for stores to have fuel prices below cost for the first 10 days of opening. Mr. Sheetz said “…when a store opens, Sheetz drops the price below cost, resulting in long lines and a lot of buzz.”
Sheetz has a strong partnership with Skyline Products for both electronic price signs and PriceAdvantage fuel pricing software. Sheetz uses this synergy to quickly adjust fuel prices at the electronic price sign, POS and pump. This round trip fuels pricing solution allows Sheetz to reach peak operational efficiency with their fuels price management.
From a fuels price management perspective, Sheetz competitors in North Carolina can expect aggressive fuel prices, especially aggressive during the first 10 days after opening a new store when Sheetz will likely price their fuel below cost.
