Go Time Seizes the Opportunity to Grow
SLADE, Ky. — In 2004, after working in the retail and convenience industries for more than 20 years, Kim King had the opportunity to open her own convenience store — something she had wanted to do for years.
She and her husband Scott opened their first location in Chavies, Ky., and it wasn't long before store No. 2 made its debut. By the time their third location opened its doors — the first built from the ground up — the Go Time Convenient Store brand was born.
Working with architects, engineers and others, King put out a call for names and chose Go Time from a list of 40 options. Today, the couple has nine Go Time stores, with more in the works.
"I got the opportunity to buy a small store, and I took it. We did well, and I really wanted to build a store from the ground up. That is when we started Go Time," recounted King, who was recently honored as a senior-level leader in Convenience Store News' 2024 Top Women in Convenience awards program.
When another opportunity arose in 2020, King and her husband took it and started their own petroleum company. Called Go Petro, the company supplies fuel to all Go Time stores, as well as a few other locations and trucking companies in the area.
"We had another country rural store that wasn't branded Go Time, so we decided to sell it and invested in a bulk plant that didn't have any fuel contracts. We bought land in Hazard, Ky.," she explained. "It makes our company much more valuable."
The Kings also own two Steak 'n Shake locations, two Moe's Southwest Grill franchises, one traditional Little Caesars site, and six Little Caesars Express locations inside its c-stores. In fact, Go Time locations were the first in Kentucky to feature Little Caesars Express.
"We are hands-on business owners and already have two more stores in the making, with No. 10 opening early spring of 2025," King reported.
The biggest focus areas for Go Time stores are customer service, cleanliness and quality food. King believes that is what has helped the company grow. She is "very adamant" about the appearance of the stores, keeping the outside freshly painted and having clean bathrooms.
"It's amazing how the people in our community will thank us for having a clean store and clean bathrooms," she said. "I also have wonderful managers and great employees, and I would not be as successful as I am without them. One manager has been with me since 2006."
Expanding the Go Time Brand
Go Time's newest stores are more than 3,000 square feet and despite being a smaller chain, the company offers private label products such as Go Time Water.
"We just started offering more private label with Go Time Popcorn," King said. "It's about getting your name out there, and I donate a lot of Go Time Water to do that as well."
The chain has a proprietary foodservice program called Go Time Deli in its stores, in addition to a variety of branded foodservice options including Little Caesars and Chester's Chicken. Go Time offers made-to-order items such as cheeseburgers, homemade sandwiches, sub sandwiches, homemade desserts, and bakery items (doughnuts, cookies, Danish, etc.). Some are made onsite, while others are brought in through vendors, according to King.
"Chester's Chicken and Little Caesars are structured programs and we do well with them, so we are looking to do more branded programs," she noted. "A lot of people come for Chester's Chicken, which we bread and fry onsite. We have it in all but one location. We also have one location that has a large deli program."
Every couple of months, Go Time tries to mix up its products and offer new options. Chester's runs quarterly promotions, too. A growing trend for the chain is bringing in different sauces. As of press time, bourbon sauce was performing well as Kentucky is known for its bourbon.
"Foodservice is one of your key elements in a c-store and if you run it right, you will have consistent profit monthly," said King. "Every seven days, we run our numbers for sales and purchases in both retail and foodservice. If something is going wrong, we will catch it."
Leaning Into Technology
Go Time has used Red River as its backoffice system since 2015, while Gilbarco Passport is its point-of-sale system. The owners scan at least 98% of the chain's products and use data to see top-selling products, plan items in the coolers, and more.
"If you don't have some form of tech, you can't operate and compete. I'm a small chain and right next door to our store in Corbin, Ky., we have a Pilot Travel Center and Love's, so we have to stay advanced on our technology," King pointed out.
When the couple's daughter graduated college, she began working at the company and helped them advance in technology. In 2016, the chain launched a Go Time Rewards loyalty program with vendor Electrum Loyalty. A year and a half later, the company added a loyalty app and updated its in-store kiosks to a slim tablet.
Go Time Rewards members receive points for all in-store purchases, earning 400 points per dollar spent, plus they get extra points on their birthday. Points can be redeemed at the kiosks for cash coupons, and members also save 5 cents per gallon on fuel.
"The biggest update we had was last fall where now, the app will instantly tell you when you have money to redeem," said King. "We redeemed over $40,000 the month we launched that feature. People talked about it and were so excited, and it was a good thing because people didn't know they had it in the past."
Looking to the Future
One of King's favorite things about the industry is setting up a new store. When she was a supervisor for another retailer, she would reset the store every three months. She also loves being able to provide jobs to others and watch them grow within the company.
"Now, I focus more on finance, so I don't work in the stores as much, but I'm still on the road," she said. "I have very personal contact with the stores every day, and we do Zoom calls."
Although a couple of large companies have approached her and her husband with offers to buy the chain, King said she isn't interested in that right now. "I'm not ready to sell and probably won't be in my lifetime," she added.
For now, King is looking to keep growing. She wants to team up with other branded foodservice companies as a franchisee, and she's eager to continue expanding Go Time with more locations as opportunities present themselves.
"Someone may call me tomorrow with stores to sell and I may buy them," she said. "We are very hands-on business owners."