Entire Circle K Network Will Sport Brand's New Look by 2018
LAVAL, Quebec — All Circle K locations across the world will be rebranded to the retailer's new global Circle K brand by 2018.
Jacob Schram, group president of European Operations at Alimentation Couche-Tard shared the news at the NACS Insight Summit – Europe earlier this month. The rebranding efforts involve more than 10,000 sites, according to Petrol Plaza.
Couche-Tard unveiled its global convenience store brand in September 2015 as the company prepared for several acquisition moves in the United States and Europe — including Cary, N.C.-based The Pantry Inc. and its Kangaroo Express locations and Topaz in Ireland.
Currently, the Canada-based retailer is close to completing its acquisition of San Antonio-based CST Brands Inc., the parent company of the Corner Stores retail network.
According to the news report, roughly 1,100 gas stations in Europe already feature the new brand, which had previously been working under the Statoil Fuel & Retail brand.
"Although widely respected, the Statoil brand was not very well positioned for the future. Circle K better emphasizes our new focus on convenience," Schram said.
The rebranding process in Ireland has been delayed until next year due to the current roll out of the Miles premium fuel.
"Those stations that have already been rebranded to the new Circle K image are showing better results. Most station operators are eager to make the switch," he added.
The new Circle K brand will replace Couche-Tard's existing Circle K, Statoil and Kangaroo Express branding on stores and service stations across Canada, the United States, Scandinavia, and Central and Eastern Europe, as CSNews Online previously reported.
The new Circle K brand will also appear on licensed stores across Asia and will be a fundamental part of Couche-Tard's future growth.
As of Jan. 29, Laval-based Couche-Tard's network consisted of 8,081 convenience stores throughout North America, including 6,710 stores with road transportation fuel dispensing. Its North American network comprises 15 business units, including 11 in the United States covering 41 states and four in Canada covering all 10 provinces.
In Europe, Couche-Tard operates a broad retail network across Scandinavia, Ireland, Poland, the Baltic states and Russia through 10 business units. As of Jan. 29, Couche-Tard's network in Europe consisted of 2,766 stores, the majority of which offer road transportation fuel and convenience products, while the others are unmanned automated fuel sites that only offer road transportation fuel.
In addition, under licensing agreements, close to 1,700 stores are operated under the Circle K banner in 13 other countries and territories worldwide.