C-Stores Need to Carry the Pandemic’s Packaging Lessons Forward

from CStore Decisions May 2022

Technology Is Raising the Bar for Food Programs

Kent Kwik new-to-industry stores feature open ceilings, beige tile on the fl oor, wood elements on the cabinets and red tile along the walls.

Kent bought the business from his father in 1984. At the time, the company had 12 stores, three lube centers, 30 dealers and around 75 employees.

Time will tell if the third generation takes the reigns. Kent’s daughter Alli Brinker is involved with the business part-time, and his son Buck is 14.

“I don’t know how much family I’ll have in the business, but I’m structuring the company so that if they want to be active in the business, there’ll be opportunities. If they don’t want to be, they’re going to have to be good owners, good investors and good stewards of the business and make sure there’s a process to hire good quality leadership to run the company. And I think we have that now.”

GROWING FOOD CONCEPTS

Foodservice is an important focus for The Kent Cos. It operates seven Huddle House franchises and three Baskin Robbins franchises. It features three Rustic Cafés, a proprietary concept, at its truck stops, and its fi rst freestanding Rustic Café is currently under construction.

“The (Rustic Café) concept was born out of the truck stop business,” Kent said. “It’s really the kind of food you would expect, if you went into a truck stop; that would be just good old comfort food.”

The offering includes fried chicken, chicken-fried steak, steak fi ngers and burgers.

“If it’s fried, we’re selling it,” Kent said. “Our goal is to have the best chicken-fried steak we can of anybody in the market.”

Rustic Café also serves breakfast 24 hours a day, making it a popular spot for breakfast customers.

The Kent Cos. also runs its own centralized commissary that supplies its stores in west Texas. “It doesn’t cover everything in every market,” Kent explained. “We’re trying to address that in each new market we’re moving into, which we haven’t done as of yet.”

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. The offering includes items such as chicken, burgers and fries.

New builds without a Kwik Eats feature open air coolers and food warmers with grab-and-go food supplied by the commissary.

The Kent Cos. has also been rolling out bean-tocup coffee dispensers to its entire fl eet of stores over the past two years. The high-quality coffee and virtually zero waste that bean-to-cup offered sold Kent on the switch.

New-to-industry Kent Kwik stores measure about 4,500 square feet, while travel stops range from 7,000 square feet to 12,000 square feet.

The Kent Cos. has also been rolling out bean-to-cup coffee dispensers to its entire fl eet of stores over the past two years.

“The no waste would’ve been a non-starter, if the product wasn’t good, but in testing the product, everybody really liked the product better. We had more blends. We had more options for guests. We felt like it was a better option for our guests,” he said. “We think we’re making good coffee, and it’s really made a difference in our coffee sales too.”

Kent Kwik has operated drive-throughs since the 1980s. “There are a lot of people that think it’s a new concept for them, but we did our fi rst one in 1988, and we’ve been doing them ever since,” Kent said. “Now we don’t have them everywhere. We don’t think they necessarily work everywhere, but our drivethroughs do really well.”

Customers can purchase anything through the drive-through except lottery.

Foodservice customers can order ahead via phone and pick up the order in-store. The Huddle House and Baskin Robbins locations offer delivery, and while The Kent Cos. has yet to extend delivery service to its Kwik Eats program, it’s actively looking into delivery options for the convenience stores.