NACS’ Latest Toolkit Addition Helps With Site Approval
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — NACS, the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing, published a new Site Approval Toolkit to share strategies with retailers seeking zoning approvals.
The 32-page NACS Site Approval Toolkit is designed to help convenience retailers looking to grow store count or modernize a site’s operations — whether they're a single-store operator or a chain — better understand the planning process and address community concerns.
The Site Approval Toolkit is the fifth and latest primer from the NACS reFresh initiative, which addresses ongoing industry perceptions by providing convenience retailers with tools to evolve their in-store offer and elevate their image in the community, as CSNews Online previously reported.
The NACS Site Approval Toolkit describes typical participants in the planning process and general elements that make up the framework of local planning. Each stage of the process is broken down and provides strategies and ideas for convenience retailers to consider in the development of a site approval plan.
“Increasingly, NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) concerns raised in zoning approval hearings have made the zoning approval process increasingly complex and difficult to navigate for retailers looking to remodel existing locations or add new locations,” said Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic initiatives for NACS. “While each approval process is admittedly unique, the Site Approval Toolkit will help retailers navigate the process in a more streamlined manner.”
Previously, NACS released a Public Relations Toolkit that includes overviews, tips and examples of how to create and refine a public relations program; “How Convenience Stores Work and Their Contributions to Communities” that defines 10 key areas of the convenience store business; and “Building the Business Case for Produce Sales at Convenience Stores, the first primer co-published by NACS and United Fresh.
“The NACS reFresh initiative provides valuable insights about the contributions convenience stores are delivering to the communities they serve. We will continue to publish toolkits and share ideas to grow sales, seek out thoughtful partnerships with like-minded groups, and develop new research that can help define our industry’s value to the communities that we serve,” said Lenard.
More information on the NACS Site Approval Toolkit can be found here.
Alexandria-based NACS has 2,100 retail and 1,600 supplier member companies, which do business in nearly 50 countries.