Kum & Go Expands The Brand

With more than 40 new stores built in 2012 and more planned over the next five years, this chain continues to grow and go

Early this year, Kum & Go LC, the West Des Moines, Iowa-based operator of more than 400 convenience stores in 11 states, announced plans for a major expansion into the Colorado Pikes Peak region. The chain is investing between $90 million and $100 million over the next five years — with eight new stores built in 2012 alone.

"Colorado came together because of the demographic, growth, population and competitive landscape," David Miller, vice president of marketing for Kum & Go, told Convenience Store News, explaining that Colorado is only one part of the company's ongoing expansion plans. "We are building more than 40 stores alone throughout the states we exist in during 2012, including Colorado."

All of the new stores showcase Kum & Go's newest prototype design and footprint, with the average store spanning approximately 5,000 square feet. Currently, 50 stores in the company's portfolio feature this new design, which includes a number of sustainable and green elements; many are also LEED certified.

"We have moved more toward making sure we deliver sustainability for our stores and customers, and deliver against our brand promise of sustainability," Miller noted.

The chain aims to recycle as many construction materials as possible, and uses white rubber roofs to reflect heat and save energy at its newest stores. The bathroom fixtures use low-flow motion sensors, and the stores incorporate skylights. Additionally, the chain is almost at 100 percent LED lighting in these new locations. As of press time, five stores were LEED certified, with 27 under review and 19 registered for certification.

"The stores are almost 20 percent more efficient, and 20 percent of the materials used are recycled," Miller said. "Also, more than 20 percent of the material is sourced within 500 miles."

Kum & Go is also a champion of biofuels, and has been offering the alternative fuel to customers since 1997. Meanwhile, E10, a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline, has accounted for more than 40 percent of total gallons sold since 2005. As new flex fuels enter the market, the company remains on board.

"We are very excited to continue to support biofuels. And as the new flex-fuel cars use E85 — which proves to be a renewable fuel source, is good for the environment, supports the U.S. economy and cuts down on oil imports — we will expand and grow our E85 offering as well," Miller explained.

NEW MEDIA, NEW SALES

In addition to keeping up with the latest fuels, Kum & Go also stays on top of the latest technology and marketing tools. This summer, the chain ran a fountain drink promotion using Bawte, an Android application (app). Kum & Go customers could scan their drink cups and share what they bought on the app and on social media. The retailer also offered customers the chance to win gift cards.

"We are always looking for the latest technology and media that our younger demographic and other consumers are using today, so we looked into social media and smartphones," Miller said. "With Bawte, we used a QR code and allowed consumers to scan the code and post comments via social media or within the actual app."

The Kum & Go summertime fountain drink promotion was one of the top three for the Bawte app, and the company invested to have its drinking cup supplier add the QR code directly onto the cup.

"During certain promotions, we will change the design of our cups to align with the promotional activity, so this time we incorporated the QR code. We could have put it at the POS [point-of-sale], but we wanted to give customers the ability to do it off-site," Miller explained.

Each week through August, the company awarded one customer a gift card for spreading the word about the app. While the majority of the comments were made in the app and not on social media, this proved to the chain that there is a segment of consumers who are comfortable with the technology, according to Miller.

The drink promotion ran for 10 weeks through the summer months, and the company collected analytics on how many people scanned and commented.

"We are happy to say the promotion was a hit," he said. "It also gave us market and social media exposure we might not have received if we had not used this platform."

For comments, please contact Tammy Mastroberte, Contributing Editor, at [email protected].