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Passing the Torch

Couche-Tard’s outgoing CEO Brian Hannasch and incoming CEO Alex Miller talk exclusively with Convenience Store News about the transition.
9/23/2024

At Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the CEO club is quite exclusive. The Laval, Quebec-based parent company of Circle K has only had two chief executives during its roughly 45-year history: Alain Bouchard, who founded Couche-Tard in 1980 and served as CEO until September 2014, and Brian Hannasch, who succeeded Bouchard after working 13 years in various roles within the organization. 

On Sept. 6, the CEO club welcomed its third member. Alex Miller, who joined Couche-Tard in 2012 and most recently served as chief operating officer, assumed the top post upon Hannaschs retirement from the position. Miller brings more than 25 years of management experience in the retail fuel and convenience store industry to his new role. 

Hannasch, who led Couche-Tard to stunning growth — including a 400% increase in the companys share price and the acquisitions of nearly 7,800 stores — during his tenure, will stay on as a special advisor to both Miller and Bouchard, now executive chairman of the board.

The outgoing CEO and incoming CEO recently sat down together for an exclusive interview with Convenience Store News to discuss the companys past, present and future; the importance of protecting Couche-Tards culture; and ensuring a successful leadership transition. 

CSN: Brian, why did you feel now is the right time to retire?

Hannasch: I hate that word (laughing). And I also still wake up every day asking myself that. Its a great industry; so many great people, and great customers and experiences over my career. But you know, I started in the industry at 16 and entered again after college, and I’ve just been doing it a long time — 35 years in the industry, coming up on 25 years with Circle K/Couche-Tard, 10 years as CEO. So, there was some poetic symmetry to it. 

The other reality is Alex is, I think, a perfect person to replace me and hes getting old (chuckling). So, if I dont hurry up, if I took another five to six years, Im not sure hed have enough runway left. So, its all good. Im looking forward to the next chapter and its just been a great journey, and Im looking forward to staying connected to Couche-Tard for many years. 

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CSN: Alex, when you joined Couche-Tard back in 2012 as director of fuels, real estate and facilities, did you have aspirations of advancing in the company and did you ever think youd end up in the CEO seat? 

Miller: No, it was not on my mind. I was excited to experience something different in a new culture. I love our culture, I love what I’ve learned, and this is where I want to finish. So, the answer is no, but Im really happy and we’ve grown so much — the company is so different in the 12-13 years I’ve been here — and that created some opportunities for me to do different things. Im just really grateful for that.

CSN: Alex, can you talk a little about your career path and how you believe its prepared you for this moment. 

Miller: Yeah, I’ve been in and around our industry for almost 30 years now. It makes me feel old, as Brian said. I’ve been fortunate to live in a lot of different places, work in a lot of different jobs. I’ve been in and around most, nearly all, aspects of our company working in those areas, which helps me feel like I really do know our culture and the things that make us successful.

I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with Alain and Brian. We’ve only had two CEOs — clearly they’ve both been pretty successful — so its massive shoes to step into. But, you know, I know how humble they are, the culture they drive, the focus on our stores and being present for our people. Im very blessed and lucky to have all that background and experience.

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CSN: Brian, you assumed the role of president and CEO of Couche-Tard in September 2014. Looking back, where was the company at that time? What was going well? What needed improvement? 

Hannasch: I joined in 2001 and we were 1,500, 1,600 stores. At that time, we had just entered Europe maybe the year before, so that was a huge change. The calendar and what time the alarms went off and what time we had calls just shifted forever. But in terms of the culture and the company, it was going well. I think we’ve always been very disciplined. We’ve always been very acquisitive, but very disciplined around doing that. So, I’ve been fortunate in my tenure and inherited a company that was financially capable and strong. We were a family of brands then. We probably had five or six different brands globally. Over the last five to seven years, we’ve gone down a journey to harmonize that under Circle K. 

The asset that we’ve had that I think has differentiated us and given us a license to do what we’ve done has really been our culture and I inherited a very strong one. Id like to think that over the last decade, we’ve been pretty successful despite the growth at maintaining that and hopefully getting a little bit better on the people side of the business. 

CSN: Brian, what would you say are the achievements youre most proud of during your tenure? 

Hannasch: I mean, theres all kinds of numbers, right, about growth and stock performance and all that, but I would say seeing so many people grow in the company. So many people in our stores have told me great stories about putting their kids through college and how theyre doctors and things like that. So, just watching the people piece — and I probably wouldn’t have said that 10 years ago — but that to me is absolutely the most rewarding thing. We do a Gallup survey every year and eight years in a row, we improved our employee engagement. Were not by any means perfect, but its a continuous journey to be a better people company. 

Lets say thats one and then two, when we bought Circle K 20 years ago this year, it was a bit of a tired brand. It had a lot of different owners and hadn’t been invested in. Were on a journey to make that brand be something more than just a sign; make it a piece of the customers mind and their hearts to turn left instead of right. And again, that’ll be a continuous journey. We’ve got areas and geographies in countries where we’ve done that very well and others where its a work in progress. But I think we’ve developed a respected brand that means a lot to our employees and a lot to our customers. 

 
CSN: Alex, what have you learned from Brian that you will apply to your new role? 

Miller: Brian and I have known each other for almost 30 years. He was my second or third boss when I worked in Amoco. Especially during these last 12-13 years, we’ve spent a lot of time together, and we’ve been spending even more time together over the last few months, which is great. He is a teacher to me, a mentor to me. Hes also my friend.

What have I learned from him? The humility. If you see him in our stores, his genuine interest, his ability to talk to our managers and to learn. He is world-class at M&A [mergers and acquisitions], both the way he thinks and his appetite for it. And his attention to detail. Its kind of a cliché, retail is detail, but he always knows and hes always looking. I owe a great deal to Brian. I would not be sitting on this call with you today without him and everything hes done for me. 

CSN: Brian, why do you think Alex is perfect for this role? 

Hannasch: We treasure our culture and so, bringing an internal candidate was very high on my list and I believe our board of directors’ list. [Alex] just gets the culture, and its not written down anywhere. Its how you show up. Its being a little bit humble. Its being tremendously empathetic about the 150,000 people that we have out there working 365 [days a year], 24 hours a day, and just appreciating them and making sure theyre first and foremost in our thoughts. Its so easy to get caught in your office doing stuff and Alex realizes thats not how we win; thats not how we take care of people and thats not how we continue to build the culture. 

On top of that, hes got a lot of skills in a lot of areas that, quite honestly, are better than me. So, a good package. And I think we’ve got a good team around him, like with me, to supplement any of the weaknesses or blind spots that we have. Hes in a great place.

 
CSN: Brian, how have you been helping to shepherd Alex into this new chapter? What advice have you given him?

Hannasch: I think your voice changes in the room. You have to be very careful … if you say something, you can easily enhance the conversation or kill it. So, I think thats one and then two, if you ask for something, youre likely to get it and that can tremendously distract the organization. So, just being a little careful. And then, focus I would say is the third I would leave you with. I think most companies get distracted and dont implement their plans, so what are those four or five things that Alex wants to achieve over the next X period of time and just staying laser focused on those, and trying to stay out of the stuff — the minutia — that bogs us all down and clogs our emails and our team meetings. Easier said than done, but I worked hard at that.

CSN: Alex, thinking of your leadership style vs. Brians leadership style, how would you say its similar? How would you say its different? 

Miller: I think its pretty similar. Play to our strengths, which for me, its engaging with people. Its hopefully being humble. Its being transparent. Its being honest. I think Brian and I share, and I know Alain shares, you know, just put great people around you, put people that you believe are smarter than you around you, and people that are different in the way they think and different in the way they approach things. 

I’ve always said that when Im doing well, people dont need me very much because theyre making decisions, theyre leading their business, they feel empowered. And I know Brian feels that way as well. So, thats where my focus is. I feel like I know our culture. To me, that is our culture, and we’ll just continue to work to really protect that and empower that even further. 

 
CSN: Brian, when you were inducted into the Convenience Store News Hall of Fame back in 2022, you said your biggest fear was protecting Couche-Tards culture as the company got bigger. During your time as CEO, in what ways have you protected that culture? 

Hannasch: Today in 31 countries, [its] harder, but Alex and I have stayed very committed to being out in the business. So, we touch our business units at least twice a year and then we have several gatherings. Those are very important. We want a culture of being in the stores, appreciating the stores and people first. 

And then, COVID I think exposed us all to technologies and different ways of communicating and so, we’ve really dialed up from having not a lot of communications capabilities [to today], we’ve given our business units tools to communicate with the stores much more easily than they could before. That allows us to tell stories, but broadcast it across the world. 

A couple of other ones: I’ve been pretty passionate about getting rid of jerks in our company. I wasn’t always good at that and we’ve had some people that have been absolute rock stars, but they couldn’t treat people right. I probably learned a little too late in my life that thats just not worth it. Its a cancer that needs to go away. Im not saying were perfect, but I think thats been good for us, to make sure that we clearly communicate and role model behaving properly and treating others right. … Be respectful, the golden rule. 

And then, the other one is one of the keys to our success has been integrating companies well. I’ve been very proud that very rarely would somebody in this company say, Who are you? Are you legacy Pantry or Circle K or…or…or…?’ We very quickly get people to feel like theyre part of the family and I think thats the way we’ve modeled welcoming people, genuinely looking for their ideas, not coming in and saying this is the Couche-Tard way or the Circle K way. We genuinely want to learn and take best practices into the organization. I think thats been a very, very important part of our culture as well thats enabled a lot of the growth we’ve had over the years.

 
CSN: Alex, as CEO, where do you hope to take Couche-Tard in the near- and long-term? And how do you plan to do your part to protect the culture? 

Miller: We‘ve had two CEOs in 45 years, Alain and Brian, right? Big shoes to step into. But it is to continue that journey. One thing when I talk to our people [is] they like to be part of a growth company, so we absolutely want to continue to grow in the space. I think if you look at Brians tenure, I always look at three buckets: shareholder returns, people returns, community returns. And, you know as we’ve talked, I think hes raised the bar materially in each of those areas, and I want to continue that. 

I think a relentless focus on the customer — how we actually can make their lives easier — thats our stated mission and so, really digging deeper into that and how we can do that and how our scale enables us to provide solutions that maybe others dont have. We want to be the global leader in mobility and convenience. I think were still early days on that journey, so just continuing that with a lot of intensity, which is another reason why I like working here.

CSN: Brian, whats next for you? 

Hannasch: It’s a great question, and I really havent focused on it too much. I guess first, its making sure Im there for Alex and the team. Thats important for me that this is a very smooth transition and it goes well. I think doing interesting things with interesting people is very high on my list. I havent defined that yet, but those are kind of two metrics or parameters that I’ve put out there. Im 57, fortunate to be in good health, so I’ll find the next mountain to climb. But I couldn’t be more proud of Couche-Tard, and its best days are ahead of it.

About the Author

Linda Lisanti

Linda Lisanti

Linda Lisanti is Editor-in-Chief of Convenience Store News. She joined the brand in 2005. Linda is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable editors in the c-store industry. She leads CSNews’ editorial team and oversees content development across all of CSNews’ print and online properties. She has covered virtually every major product category and major retail company.

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