Core-Mark Breaks Ground on Center of Excellence

WESTLAKE, Texas — Core-Mark Holding Co. Inc. broke ground on its planned Center of Excellence on Sept. 26.

The facility will enable convenience retailers to immerse themselves in the experience of retailing and drive new ideas, products and other solutions to grow their businesses, the company said.

Core-Mark will showcase a virtual tour of the Center of Excellence at the 2019 NACS Show, held Oct. 2-4 in Atlanta.

"The opening of Core-Mark's Center of Excellence marks our steadfast dedication to driving innovation within the convenience retail industry," said Core-Mark Senior Vice President of Marketing Chris Murray. "We have created an environment that combines forward-looking consumer trends with real-time data so we can align with our customers and inform the future of convenience today."

Core-Mark's Center for Excellence will feature five separate hubs to deliver an immersive experience, allowing retail leaders and vendors to gain real-time insights into emerging trends and opportunities. They include:

• Collaboration Hub — A customized experience to align Core-Mark and customers on joint strategies and business goals.
• Culinary Test Kitchen — A test kitchen to develop new menu items, test new equipment and create the next breakthrough in the culinary shopper experience.
• Modern Retail Experience — Virtual product placement and store layout using the latest software tools to facilitate visualization while leveraging data to create the optimal shopping experience.
• Insights and Data Center — Leveraging leading-edge data analytics tools to capture meaningful and actionable insights from data.
• People Training Facility — An educational lab to share insights, train sales teams and learn from thought leaders.

The grand opening of the Center of Excellence is scheduled for early 2020.

Based in Westlake, Core-Mark offers a full range of products, marketing programs and technology solutions to more than 44,000 customer locations in the United States and Canada through 32 primary distribution centers, excluding two distribution facilities the company operates as a third-party logistics provider.