The Kent Cos.
Kent Kwik’s newer stores feature a proprietary concept called Kwik Eats. Customers order food via touchscreen kiosks, and the food is made to order in the store.
Kent expects the program will begin rolling out to its entire fleet of stores by the end of 2022. Customers who wish to use mobile payment can use the Chevron- or Exxon-branded fuel apps in the forecourt. They can also pay for products in-store or at the pump using Apple Pay. While The Kent Cos. hasn’t moved into other forms of frictionless checkout yet, Kent experienced the technology up close in March, during store tours that were held as part of the National Advisory Group (NAG) Conference in La Jolla, Calif. “Based off the NAG visit, we saw some frictionless retail that has got our attention and is making us think about what additional options we can bring to our stores,” he said. BEYOND CONVENIENCE
Kent’s goal for the future is for The Kent Cos. to reach $1 billion in revenue. “We may get there this year,” Kent said. “That’s been my personal goal to take a business I bought in 1984 that was very small and from my family, and if I could get to $1 billion in revenue, I would feel like I’ve made some progress.” Today, the company has about 1,300 employee positions, quite a jump from the 75 employees when Kent acquired the business. As it looks to grow, Kent plans to take the acquisitions as they come. “We don’t have anybody beating the bushes saying, ‘We have to be here. We have to be there.’ We’re not doing that,” Kent said. “We’re letting the market come to us to tell us, ‘Hey, would you be interested in this group of stores here?’ And we can say yes or no. We have looked at a lot of acquisitions that we’ve not pulled the trigger on. We’re willing to look at just about anything, but it needs to fit with our culture and everything else.” New stores and acquisitions will fly the Kent Kwik banner in most of its operating area. If it expands in the Carolinas, time will tell if the stores will be branded Bountyland or Kent Kwik. 34
CSTORE DECISIONS •
May 2022
The company is also growing beyond c-stores. In 2020, The Kent Cos. bought Prince Signs, signage company in Houston. It also operates 15 Mr. Payroll check cashing locations, two Kent Tire stores and nine Kent Car Washes. Last year, The Kent Cos. entered the urgent care market when it acquired WesTex Urgent Care, which operates three urgent cares in the Texas market. “We bought into the urgent care model with a doctor, who’s a friend of mine, named Terry Beck. We want to build a quality urgent care brand with him and the doctors,” Kent said. “We don’t have anything to do with the medical care, but we think we can help with the brand development, with the locations and with the consistency of it. That’ll be a separate part of what we do, but it’s another growth vehicle for us.” Kent divested its Kwik Lube business to Valvoline Inc. in 2020 but kept the real estate. Today it operates one NTI Kent Lube Fast Oil Change Center in Midland that was an exception to the non-compete agreement. Now that Kent Kwik is moving into new parts of the country, Kent hasn’t ruled out moving into the lube business again in new regions. The Kent Cos. also operates Express Petro Transportation, hauling fuel with its trucking fleet that has grown to 24 trucks in the last five years. “That has grown tremendously,” he said. “Every one of these acquisitions we’ve made, we’ve bought the hauling assets that the companies have.” The trucking fleet proved to be a game changer during COVID-19 given driver shortages among common carriers. “It made a world of difference to us because we stayed in product when others didn’t have product,” Kent said. The Kent Cos. is also a shipper, shipping fuel from the Gulf Coast to west Texas. “The company’s grown a lot and I’m very proud of that,” he said. “I’m very proud of my people, my management team and my staff. We want to create opportunities for people. We’re going to continue to grow. We’re going to do a lot of it organically. We’re going to keep building sites.” CSD cstoredecisions.com
