STORE REVIEW
Where good food meets great service Caltex Wacol is a shining example of how a focus on customer experience and innovation in food and drink can elevate a store to the next level. Words Thomas Oakley-Newell NESTLED IN THE industrial area of the Brisbane suburb of Wacol, this Caltex site caters to a range of customers, from workers on their lunch breaks to tradies topping up, but what really sets Caltex Wacol apart from its competitors is its food offer. “Due to the continual growth over the years, we have had to do multiple upgrades to the food offer in this store. In 2021, we upgraded the counter, added on to the kitchen, and moved from a fourtray to six-tray hot box, with the takeaway category increasing by 19.5 per cent as a result,” said Nadia Young, Store Manager. Despite the upgrades, they could still see that Caltex Wacol had not yet reached its peak, so when the rebrand to Caltex was scheduled, they used the closure time to add another three trays of hot box space as well as new fridges to showcase its sandwich, salads, meals, and dessert offers. “The team has a long list of fried food lines that they pull from, however they always ensure they have the top sellers available. They are well known for their chicken and chips, and hamburgers as well as 12
December 2023/January 2024
the classic Inghams Sweet Chilli Tenders and Keppel Biggins Crumbed Sausages. “Being in an industrial area, fried food is still in high demand and our customers usually use their visit to grab a break from work so are happy to travel to us. We do however notice seasonal shifts. In winter, we find that our customers really gravitate to the hot food and in summer they tend to switch it up for a sandwich, salad, or sushi that we have on offer,” explained Young. The site is also the top performing energy site in the state for two energy drink suppliers. “We could not continue to grow our food offer without opening up the fridge space, so we took iced coffee, flavoured milk, and milk out of the fridge run and into its own space, and now we have a dedicated door for multipacks as well as three more doors dedicated to energy units. “We have had incredible growth results across all categories changed during the rebrand. Every inch of this store is working hard to earn its space, and if we want to grow beyond this, we are limited by the walls.”
