Technology Is Raising the Bar for Food Programs

Today, The Kent Cos. operates 72 convenience stores, including 61 Kent Kwik stores in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Tennessee, and 11 Bountyland locations in South Carolina and North Carolina. The company also supplies fuel to more than 200 dealer sites, including in Louisiana, Texas and Alabama.

Kent Kwik stores primarily offer Chevron-branded fuel, while the Bountyland stores feature Exxonbranded gas.

RAPID EXPANSION

In a little over two years, the company has nearly doubled its footprint.

In late 2020, the company entered the Tennessee market with the purchase of Buy Fast stores in Fayetteville, Tenn. The acquisition included branded and unbranded dealer supply accounts, a commercial lubes and fuel distribution business, and a bulk plant and offi ce. The move marked the fi rst time the company expanded outside its Southwest roots. It also gave Kent a strategic foothold to support its plans for growth in central Tennessee.

“It’s been a journey,” said Bill Kent, CEO of The Kent Cos. “We’ve been bidding on acquisitions for six to seven years. We’ve seemed to always be second or third and found a lot of public companies, in our opinion, that were overpaying for companies. We just kept swinging, and we got an opportunity to buy into Tennessee.”

In March 2021, The Kent Cos. expanded in the Texas market, acquiring six stores from Connel Oil Co. dba Mr. C’s convenience stores in Mineral Wells and Weatherford, Texas, along with branded and unbranded dealer supply accounts and a bulk plant.

In October 2021, The Kent Cos. purchased 11 Bountyland convenience stores, 51 dealer locations and commercial accounts from Bountyland Petroleum and Bountyland Food Service, based in Seneca, S.C. The acquisition allowed Kent to grow into the South Carolina and North Carolina markets.

“We really made a connection with the owner of Bountyland, David Land, and I think he felt like we were similar to their philosophy, and we certainly thought he was to ours. We were impressed with the operation, the caliber of the people, the facilities and everything,” Kent said.

While Buy Fast and Mr. C’s locations are converting to the Kent Kwik name and image, Kent decided to leave the Bountyland name in place for the time being. “We feel like they have a good name in the South Carolina market, and we want to try to leverage that,” he said.

Part of The Kent Cos. strategic vision is to reduce its dependence on west Texas and the Permian Basin because of the volatility of the oil and gas market in that region.

“Our headquarters and most of our stores are in the Permian Basin, which is the largest oil fi eld in North America and one of the largest in the world, and with that comes some good things, but with it comes a lot of bad things,” Kent said. “One of those is that you have extreme ups and downs. Prices go up, and things are great, but you can’t fi nd employees because the oil fi eld and the service companies overpay people so egregiously that you can’t even compete.”

“Then the oil industry will collapse with price collapse,” he added. “Then you have people wanting jobs, but the pay rates are distorted, and if you’ve chased those salaries up there, you’re in trouble because the industry changes. So it’s a challenge. It’s a diffi cult market.”

Because of that volatility, Kent decided to evaluate additional areas of operation outside the Southwest.

Bill Kent, CEO of The Kent Cos., purchased the company from his father in 1984. At the time, the chain had about 12 stores, three lube centers, 30 dealers and 75 employees. Today it boasts 72 stores, 200-plus dealer locations and 1,300 employee positions.

Left to Right: Alex Garoutte, director of marketing; Meredith Bright, director of corporate communications and brand development; Bill Kent, CEO and chairman; Katie Roberts, brand development manager; Wesley Robinson, director of operations for Kent Car Wash, Mr. Payroll, Kent Tire, maintenance and safety; Kent Miller, chief fi nancial offi cer; and Fred Silhanek, vice president of food service.

Kent was attracted to Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina as markets of operation because they are similar to Texas in terms of business policies, including low taxation and regulation.

“We look for areas where we think we can grow that share a similar political environment and regulatory environment to what we’re used to in Texas,” he said.

As The Kent Cos. continues to set its sights on future growth, it’s open to additional operating areas.

“We have no desire to be in the Northeast,” Kent said. “We have no desire to be on the West Coast. Pretty much everything in between there is fair game.”

NTI STORES

While it keeps an eye on further acquisitions, The Kent Cos. is also growing via new-to-industry (NTI) locations. It opened two NTI stores in west Texas in 2021, including a truck stop in Odessa, Texas. It also opened one new truck stop in San Angelo, Texas, in 2022 and it has two more sites currently under construction — a truck stop and a c-store, both in Midland, Texas.

“We’ve dramatically, over the last 15 to 20 years, changed the footprint of our stores,” Kent said. “Our new typical store is about 4,500 square feet. Our travel stops range from 7,000 square feet to 12,000 square feet. It depends on what kind of facility we’re building.”

The exterior of the convenience stores features two brick columns fl anking the entrance and a brick façade above the entryway, above which a glass lightup sign features the name Kent Kwik.

Inside, the store features open ceilings, beige tile on the fl oor, wood elements on the cabinets and red tile along the walls.

“We tile most everything in the store for long-term maintenance. There’s a lot of white, a lot of wood treatments to kind of warm it up,” Kent said. “It’s pretty colorful inside.”

The chain’s immediate focus is upgrading existing sites. It remodels stores each year to keep locations up to date. This year it plans to re-image 10-12 stores to the Kent Kwik brand. Some of the locations are recently acquired sites, while others are legacy locations in need of facelifts. It also plans to raze and rebuild one of the Bountyland stores, a Tennessee store and a truck stop.

Meanwhile, Kent plans to continue building NTI sites, including in the Fort Worth area near the Connel acquisition, as well as in west Texas.

SECOND-GENERATION BUSINESS

Kent Kwik dates back to 1957, when Kent’s father, the late Buck Kent, founded the company, which began as Kent Oil and Kent Distributors in west Texas.

Bill Kent’s oldest brother ran the business for years, and then his middle brother joined the company and spearheaded the move into the Kwik Lube business. Kent joined in 1979, and his brothers moved on from the business shortly after.

The Kent Cos. at a glance

Founded: 1957 States of Operation: Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina Store Count: 72 — 61 Kent Kwik stores and 11 Bountyland locations

Management Team:

• Todd Watkins, president and chief operating offi cer • Kent Miller, chief fi nancial offi cer • Adam Sturdivant, vice president — strategic planning and development • Melissa Martinez, vice president of convenience store operations • Fred Silhanek, vice president of foodservice • Alex Garoutte, director of marketing • Meredith Bright, director of corporate communications and brand development • Jessica Barnhill, director of transportation • Kenneth Woods, director of operations of food service • Gabe Mora, director of convenience store operations of the western region • Wesley Reinhold, director of convenience store operations of the eastern region • Wesley Robinson, director of operations of Mr. Payroll,

Kent Car Wash, Kent Tire, maintenance and safety • Clayton Gaeke, director of wholesale fuel • David Land II, director of marketing of the eastern region • Allison Rivas, executive assistant