Navigating the Nooks and Crannies of the C-Store World

C-stores are so popular, you never know where one will pop up, what it will look like, or how it will be used.

On an international level, few sporting events are as big as the FIFA World Cup. It’s a big deal—three million tickets big—with people from all over the world descending upon little travelled Qatar, the tournament site.

This rush of spectators has led to some, er, interesting solutions for site lodging. Take these $200 a night container “rooms,” for example. There’s a whole village of them! But the thing we liked best . . . you guessed it! The village has its own c-store!

Talk about universal appeal! You never know where a c-store will show up, or, for that matter, what it will look like, or for that matter, how it will be used. The same holds true for gas stations. Take a look at this $340 a night “hotel room with no walls.” It’s a gas station!

Feeling adventuresome? Like climbing up a sheer cliff in Shiniuzhai National Geological Park, Hunan Province, China? Even though it looks a little hairy, “the world’s most inconvenient” convenience store awaits, just 400 feet up.

Somehow that seems like much more of an adventure than stocking up on Disney merchandise at Oswald’s gas station and c-store in the California Adventure theme park, but it’s a great looking operation! And right next to the Chamber of Commerce, too. (Wait . . . what?!)

NBA fans have probably noticed the Sacramento Kings are much improved this year. But what you might not know, is that through a partnership with Zippin, the franchise opened the first in-arena checkout-free convenience store inside Golden 1 Center a few years ago.

Here’s a few more examples of how petroleum retailers have worked their way into the nooks and crannies of the retail world:

• This floating c-store sells merchandise and fuel to those who boat by it.
• For minimalists, here’s a roadside gas station in Thailand. No “big footprint” here!
• If you’re one of those drivers that wants the gas station to come to you, well, here’s a company that sells what they call “Plug and Play gas stations.” Let us know how it works out.

Not every unusual application involving a convenience store and a gas station ends up being a success, as in the case of a gas station Airbnb that false-started not too far from SSCS Headquarters in Salinas. But in the great majority of cases, innovation and inspiration prevail in the end, as all successful operators know.

As software providers, we know it, too, and we’ve seen our technology boost a wide variety of operations, an adaptability that has served our customers well for the last four decades. Now if only that roadside guy in Thailand could find us. Or that entrepreneur hanging off the cliff with an inventory of, like, 12 items. We’d even help you if you were one of those people bringing the gas station into your yard!

There’s a heck of a lot of other operation types that we are willing and qualified to help with our software and service, too. Just call us at 1-800-972-7727 so we can explain just how adaptable our solutions are.