Tri Star Reaches Quarter Mark in Rebranding

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- What’s better than getting customers to visit your convenience store every day? Getting them to visit at least twice a day, of course.

That is the simple theory behind the rebranding of Nashville-based Daily’s convenience stores into Twice Daily, a progressive convenience concept built on fresh daypart offerings, excited customer service, an in-house media network and pride in its Music City culture — all working together to encourage customers to shop the stores multiple times throughout the day.

The thinking is that customers will stop by in the morning for a coffee and fresh-prepared Danish or fruit cup, and then come back in the afternoon for an artisan sandwich or an afterschool snack with the kids. That’s where the Twice Daily name comes from — a convenience offering that’s so on target and in tune with its market that customers will want to shop at least twice daily.

Tri Star Energy LLC recently rebranded its 17th Daily's store into Twice Daily, marking one-quarter of its 71 stores converted. The plan is for most of the remaining Daily’s stores -- right now, there are 54 -- to be changed over to Twice Daily in the next two to three years. The chain is averaging about 15 conversions a year, according to Tom Woodard, the company's director of communications.

The new concept has proven positive for the company culture. "It has reinvigorated our people to focus on service," Woodard told CSNews Online. "It challenges our people every day in positive ways. This new image has really rallied our people. It has elevated the excitement and culture of the whole company."

Fresh offerings all day long are the hallmark of Twice Daily. The breakfast offering begins before sunup and goes until about 10:30 a.m. The lunch offering then follows at about 10:45 a.m. to cater to the working crowd that starts very early. Food by request is made fresh to order at any time.

In fact, "Fresh all day" is Twice Daily’s tagline.

"Foodservice is the hottest topic in our industry, and we just heard it again at [the] NACS [Show]. If you’re not in the food business, you’re not in the convenience business," Woodard explained.

The breakfast goodies at Twice Daily include a full pastry/Danish assortment prepared in stores every morning, along with breakfast biscuits and muffins, a fresh fruit cup to go, eight flavors of coffee changed fresh every hour on the hour, and a full cream and condiment bar.

Lunch options include Italian and pizza flatbreads; artisan sandwiches made with chicken, chipotle beef, and rustic turkey; two types of chicken salads; Caesar salad; veggie cups; and there is even a "fantastic PB&J sandwich for the kids that goes great with a fruit cup," Woodard noted.

In the beverage department, there are 28 flavors plus flavor shots, ICEE and f’real. "We actually tried to do an algorithm based on how many different flavor combinations there are — it’s crazy," he said.

Each Twice Daily store has a hostess (or host) who samples food in-store. However, this position goes beyond just highlighting the food. It's about taking customer service to a higher, more excited plane.

"We created the hostess position to greet our guests and explain the changes at Twice Daily," said Woodard. "It’s a more personal touch, it has a personal shopper feel and it’s all about being guest-oriented. We believe service is lost in America and in the South, especially, it’s really important to us."

This new position has proven to be a growth tool for the Twice Daily concept, garnering very positive comments on social media and locally by word of mouth.

"It simply blows people away to be greeted in our convenience stores with, ‘How can we serve you today?’ and ‘How is your day going?’" Woodard reported.

More excitement at Twice Daily comes in the form of the retailer's in-house media network. Full television screens operate at the fuel pumps with audio also piped into the stores. Product offerings, promotions, contests and employee opportunities are among the message topics.

"We used to have different vendors that ran screen content at the pumps, but we’ve chosen to bring that all in-house with Twice Daily," explained Woodard. "We control the messaging and we are using our stores as the medium — it’s a pretty big deal."

One promotion that ran through the end of the year was a partnership with The Coca-Cola Co. where guests had the opportunity to win free gas weekly, given away on Sundays at midnight.

Because guests have to register through their local Twice Daily store, this kind of content has grown the company’s customer database tenfold, according to Woodard. The stores also run a "Word of the Week" promotion where customers have to enter the store to find out the word and potentially win a prize by entering it online.

"It’s much better than a text-to-win promotion, we feel, because it’s more of a personal touch," he said. "It creates conversation between our GSR (guest service representative) and our guests. It excites both our guests and our team members."