SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Savannah Morning News and Savannahnow.com are closing out 2013 by honoring Parker’s Convenience Stores with the 2013 Entrepreneurial Business of the Year award, a year-end recognition for local businesses that display growth and success in their philanthropic and community involvement endeavors.
Greg Parker, CEO of the Savannah-based c-store chain, opened his first store in 1975 and hasn’t looked back. The retailer is getting ready to open his 35th c-store in Vidalia in January “and has 17 more in the pipeline,” writes the news source, as part of an expansion plan that captures Parker’s long-term vision to become to a multi-billion-dollar company.
For Parker, the time is right to focus on growth: “Money is cheap, real estate values are down, unemployment is up, which means there are lots of good, talented people to hire. So our thought has been, grow now and when the economy starts to heat up, we’re in the catbird seat,” he told the news source.
Parker credits a reliance on metrics as the key to his company’s success.
“What differentiates us is we worship data in this company,” he told the news source. “And we are really good at analyzing data. We also use technology in a way that other people don’t.” He notes that he reviews KPIs daily, such as gross profit per labor dollar, break-even cents per gallon and average time per transaction.
“I’m looking for every single gallon of gas I can sell,” said Parker. “There is no way I’m going to let a competitor get up on me. We’re going to be the low price leader.”
Parker also notes the growth of its PumpPal loyalty card program, with more than 80,000 customers enrolled, that has given back $3.5 million to its users. “And that’s significant, it’s meaningful, and it makes me very, very proud. Because not only did we do it, but we forced our competitors to react to it,” he said.
With an employee size of 400, Parker also emphasizes the importance of hiring the right people who will help grow the company. “We have great, competent people in roles, and we need to have a little more depth,” Parker said, adding that he’s planning to add in more key positions in the New Year.
He also credits the use of technology, “having talented people on board and providing fast, friendly and reliable service” to support growth. “Our biggest challenge is going to be people and maintaining the culture and having that ‘special sauce,’ which people know and love and respect,” he told the news source.
What’s in store for 2014? According to the news source, Parker’s is planning to replace current POS systems in all stores to speed up transaction time, add more key management positions, build and open new stores and prepare for acquisitions of up to $100 million.