PHOTO GALLERY: Inconvenience Inc Marks Its Spot in the Convenience Channel
CHICAGO — Some people in the convenience channel grow up in the industry, following in their relatives' footsteps. Others enter the industry as a means to pay their way through school, buy their first car or just earn some gas money. Then, there are those like Tiffany Fraley, who wake up one day and find themselves operating convenience stores.
Fraley is CEO of Inconvenience Inc, the company behind The Goods Spot and The Gas Spot. The Chicago-based business formed in February 2024 following the bankruptcy-driven exit of two separate operators and quickly introduced its convenience and gas banners — collectively and playfully known as the G-Spot. Today, the portfolio comprises 25 locations: 15 in Iowa, five in Missouri and five in Arkansas. The Gas Spot brand adorns locations with gas, while The Goods Spot brand adorns the few locations that don't sell gas.
Coming from a commercial real estate background, Fraley saw opportunity in the properties. She then recruited two executive team members who also had no experience in the industry: Alicia LaFollette, brand director, and Nicole Majkowicz, operations and fuel maintenance director. Majkowicz, who Fraley describes as "a sponge," has experience as a property manager and LaFollette, who has experience in corporate brand identity, environmental design and advertising, makes everything she touches "look infinitely better," Fraley noted.
"We bought gas stations to put into a real estate fund. They are tax advantaged. They were run by other operators at the time," she recalled. "Essentially, we saw it as a way to do something that we knew, which is triple net properties, but have a better return and a different, again, tax advantage product to sell to our investors."
While others might have found the idea daunting considering the bankruptcy of the previous operators, "we were confident we couldn't do worse," Fraley told Convenience Store News.
"It was terrifying, but also a huge opportunity to do something, to learn something new, to build a company with a vision in mind, and to be able to handpick the people I wanted to build it with," she added. "That in itself was cool."
A Clear Vision
The lack of convenience store experience on their resumes is not the only thing that makes the executive team at Inconvenience Inc stand out — they are also a women-led company, a rarity in what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry.
With that in mind, the team knew they had to grab the industry's attention.
[Read more: Convenience Store News Unveils the 2025 Top Women in Convenience]
"We are female-led and wanting to be memorable, wanting to stand out, wanting to do it with a sense of humility and humor is really where the G-Spot was born," Fraley explained. "It's not meant to offend or as I've said before, make anyone clutch their pearls. It is meant for us to stand out. This is a very male-dominated industry still."
The G-Spot's stores have been designed to stand out as well. "If you walk into one of our locations, it is more boutiquey without being bougie. You get a sense of calm," said Fraley. "It's not overly tech filled. There's no screens screaming at you."
The way the executive team operates the business is also distinct. It's convenience with conviction, LaFollette said, crediting Fraley with coining the phrase in the early days of the operation after the team faced roadblocks and frustrations.
"We take transparency and honesty really seriously," she explained.
"To build a culture of acceptance, we do things differently and by different, I don't mean anything that's outrageous. It's just, we are very upfront," Fraley added. "We set the standard of how we like to operate. We ask that our vendors and our suppliers do the same."
In the long run, LaFollette believes it is better than doing things like they've always been done. "I think we find small ways that are changing the people that we meet, the people that we work with, the vendors, the customers that we interact with, and then all the tangential people that this industry touches," she said. "I think that's really important to us. So, beyond our general mission of being a reliable partner for customers, that conviction I think is really important to us."
A Warm Reception
Bucking the status quo aside, the foundation of The Gas Spot and The Goods Spot is a desire to serve their communities, which have welcomed the banners to town.
"When these operators went out of business, they didn't just go out of business, they left holes in communities where they have no other options. There was not another gas station, there is not a grocery store, there is not a quick-service restaurant. They left an empty building," Fraley said.
As a result, residents had to change their habits and drive 20 miles to pick up items they used to get at the local c-store, and towns were left without the sales tax revenue. As the G-Spot team began remodeling the locations and reopening them, the residents were happy to be given back something that was taken from them, according to Fraley.
"We are also trying to change the stigma, and I'm guilty of it, of saying it's just a gas station. So much goes into operating these stores that it is mind blowing. It is not just selling chips and Cokes," she pointed out. "Everything has some type of license and regulation attached to it, which you have to make sure are renewed, currently paid, etc. — and this is just inside the store. Then, you've got the fuel side of things. There are so many different businesses inside that gas station, and I will never look at them the same way again."
The fuel side of the business is something Majkowicz is becoming very familiar with. "Who knew there were so many different regulations for things that you can't see? That was the biggest part when we took over, discovering most of these sites — 90% of them — were out of compliance, either for not carrying the correct insurance or not getting the correct inspections done on an annual or three-year basis," she said.
Though she describes the process of operating fuel locations as a journey, Majkowicz brought it back to the team's vision: "Convenience with conviction. Do it the right way."
A Personal Touch
Stepping inside the G-Spot's stores, customers find traditional convenience store items but with a personal touch. For example, each store features a sign welcoming guests, like "Hello Pattonsburg" in its Pattonsburg, Mo., location.
"We want it to be community-based. We want people to know that they're welcome. That if you're in a hurry, grab what you need and go. But if you want to sit and have a cup of coffee and talk to whomever, we give you tables and the ability to do that," Fraley said.
The stores also bring brand to the forefront. The G-Spot can be spotted throughout — think The Gathering Spot for where customers can sit and gather, and The Gulp Spot for beverages.
Now a year into the venture, the executive team admits they have encountered some challenges, but they think those challenges would have existed even if they were not all women.
"When we've gone to conferences, these are challenges everybody faces. It's not sex, gender or anything like that," Fraley explained. "Why does nothing integrate easily? What's the resolve? We're still trying to find it. It seems like it's an industry challenge."
An industry that has been welcoming to the new kids on the block. "We have been very well received and it is an industry that wants to help. Mostly if they don't know the answer, they know someone who does," she added. "We are willing to say, 'We don't know things, please help us.'"
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