INDUSTRY ROUNDUP
Summer Travel Season Triggers Hiring Sprees Pilot Co., Royal Farms, Speedway and Thorntons are among those boosting their staffs start to summer just weeks away, several convenience store chains and travel center operators have embarked on hiring sprees to ensure their stores will be well staffed to handle this year’s expected increase in customer traffic.
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The push to grow team sizes comes as some experts predict a busy summer travel season due to COVID-19 vaccinations prompting Americans to get out of the house and hit the road. Knoxville, Tenn.-based Pilot Co. held a National Hiring Day on April 27, aiming to fill more than 5,000 positions in retail, foodservice, professional driving, and corporate roles. As part of its hiring campaign, Pilot sought to bring on more than 300 professional drivers for company and independent contractor positions across the country. Additionally, the travel center chain sought 100 team members for multiple departments at its Knoxville headquarters, as well as offices in Houston, Dallas and Denver. Meanwhile, Baltimore-based Royal Farms launched a large-scale hiring effort that seeks to bring on approximately 4,500 new employees before the end of 2021. Open part-time and full-time roles range from customer service associates to management-level positions. The retailer is offering a $500 sign-on bonus to new employees at select locations, and a $300 referral bonus to existing employees.
18 Convenience Store News C S N E W S . c o m
“As we continue our growth in the mid-Atlantic region, we are very excited to support these new communities along with the communities that we are already a part of,” said Brian Roche, director of human resources. “Our teams work hard every day to support our great customers and give them the outstanding service they deserve.” In addition, Enon, Ohio-based Speedway LLC wants to bolster its employee count by more than 7,000 to fill existing and growth-related positions. These range from entry level to assistant manager roles. Both part-time and full-time store positions are available, including customer service representatives and foodservice specialists. Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz Inc. is also in the process of hiring more than 2,800 new employees — including nearly 1,200 in its home state of Pennsylvania. This hiring drive comes on the heels of the retailer making a $28.5-million investment in store employee wages, and updating its parental leave policy to grant 12 weeks of fully paid time off for new mothers and two weeks of fully paid time off for partners. And Louisville, Ky.-based Thorntons LLC wants to boost its staffing level by 350 team members, and is holding weekly open interviews through Aug. 25 to hire for seasonal, part-time and full-time roles. Available positions include guest service representatives, Clean Team members, foodservice managers, store managers, and general managers.
