The rise of forecourt convenience stores was unfortunate for corner cafés. Many went out of business as the forecourt drive took over. There are now billions being made from forecourts.
But forecourt convenience stores come in many shapes and sizes, from the smallest grubby little ones to ones that look like smaller versions of modern supermarkets.
With petrol prices rocketing to levels that put pressure on household budgets, forecourt convenience stores face a growing challenge, amongst other competitive forces: how to persuade motorists to spend money in their shops when they’re already paying so much to fill their tanks.
Well, there are others that are, you know, working, the bakkie brigade, for example. They’ll come there and they’ll want to buy a sausage roll or a cup of coffee from the forecourt.
That gets onto the story of what people now want from those forecourt stores and what the forecourt store owners are doing. Basically they’re repositioning to find the biggest sellers, foodstuffs and other stuff that provide convenience, and any other convenience like coffee, ATMs, hot foods and deep-cut specials.
Well, this is all in theory, but let’s see how it pans out, because many people would still go to the corner store, although they are now owned by foreign nationals and they’ve dug themselves right inside residential communities, such as Kensington B for one in Randburg.
Talking about Randburg, there’s a forecourt shop there called Mnandi Market where the demographics of the market are such that the forecourt store is catering for that, having very cheap cake and bread and all sorts of cheap lines that draw people in from their cars after they’ve filled up with petrol, or they come there just to buy from that store.
It’s also got, last time I went into that store, was Bootlegger’s. Can you believe that? In a sort of downmarket area, they have a Bootlegger’s.
All of this is about trying to capture additional revenue, and that’s the problem with a lot of these filling stations, because their margins are pretty slim on the petrol. So they’re beefing up their margins with these stores that they’ve got. So the better these stores, the more money they make.
When I lived at the intersection between Craighall, Blairgowrie and Bordeaux, there was a forecourt opposite where I lived, and they had a very good mix of all sorts of things, from doughnuts to pizzas and Seattle Coffee, and they were trying out new things all the time. Oh yes, and they had their own menu of slap chips and hot dog rolls and all of that type of stuff. And they are well supported by the franchisor for specials on groceries.
Yet when you see the same type of franchise operating here in, say, Fish Hoek, there’s a poky, tiny little store with very little to offer, except a coffee machine and a few sausage rolls warming in an oven, and from time to time they have specials on fruit and vegetables, but that’s basically all.
So you have top stores to those that are really struggling. And the reason is because they’re not spending money. In other words, you’ve got to build proper facilities, shelving, equipment, etc. And if you’re not prepared to do that, well, you’re not really in the game.
You take a small main road like Fish Hoek Main Road, where you have four service stations, each with forecourt shops. The competition is pretty high, which brings another side to it.
With so many forecourt shops around, competition is intensifying. The smart operators know that selling petrol is no longer enough. They have to give customers a reason to stop, shop and spend.
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