Background
ARKO Corp. subsidiary GPM Investments, LLC, based in Richmond, Virginia, operates or supplies sites in more than 30 states. As the sixth largest convenience store chain in the country, GPM has approximately 3,500 locations comprised of approximately 1,530 company-operated stores, approximately 121 proprietary cardlock locations, and approximately 1,852 dealer sites to which they supply fuel.
The challenge
GPM engaged Kalibrate to develop a capital deployment strategy for its portfolio of approximately 1,530 locations in the company’s unique Family of Community Brands.
The objective was to estimate the market potential for each location and then prioritize locations for capital store investments (raze-and-rebuild and modular remodels). The end goal was, using data and analytics, to quantify the best use of budgeted capital spending to maximize sales performance.
Key client questions
- Which locations should be prioritized for raze-and-rebuild or modular remodel?
- How can we optimize capital investments to maximize return?
The solution
The three key steps on our solution roadmap were as follows
Store performance analysis
Using, demographic/psychographic data, competitor data, and Massive Mobile Data (MMD), combined with Kalibrate proprietary internal statistical modeling and analytical techniques, we identified the key drivers of store performance.
Forecast models
Kalibrate developed a series of sales forecasting models for GPM that will be the basis for assessing the market potential for each existing store location. These models estimate the market potential for fuel and in-store sales and quantify the importance of a variety of factors including urbanicity, locational convenience (drive time), demographic/psychographic characteristics, nearby traffic generators (businesses), competition, vehicular traffic, store attributes, and site characteristics (ex. access, visibility, parking).
Capital deployment prioritization
Kalibrate developed a prioritization matrix to guide the deployment of capital for raze-and-rebuilds. Leveraging the results of the Store Performance Analysis and Sales Forecasting model, each location is assigned a capital strategy based on the store’s market potential and current performance.
The result
With the insight generated by Kalibrate, GPM has a stronger understanding of the factors influencing performance. The prioritization matrix helps GPM identify the best sites for raze-and-rebuilds or modular remodels based on the best potential to deliver returns, retaining and growing market share in the most effective way possible. The models created can also serve future applications to serve strategic site selection objectives.
“The partnership with Kalibrate has been valuable in gaining visibility around performance potential. With the model outputs, we’re able to make strategic decisions about where to invest – and, crucially, what action to take – across our brands. The support and market knowledge of the team made a complex process very straightforward. Brian Strickland’s expertise was particularly invaluable in the partnership.”
