Yesway, the convenience store operator behind the Allsup's brand, sells diesel for about 38% of the fuel at its stores, a share that reaches 40% or more at newly built locations, CEO Tom Trkla said at the Goldman Sachs Global Consumer and Retail Conference last month. Yesway went public earlier this year and has a significant presence in rural West Texas and New Mexico.
Trkla said the company has one of the highest diesel percentages among c-store chains outside Love's and Pilot. Treasurer and CFO Ericka Ayles said the West Texas and New Mexico footprint carries considerable truck traffic, which made diesel a natural fit. The company buys land adjacent to its stores and installs high-flow diesel lanes.
Diesel prices have risen alongside other petroleum products. Drivers of passenger vehicles have adjusted habits to cut fuel use, while trucking companies keep rigs moving and can pass higher costs along. Ayles described that cost pass-through as a tailwind for Yesway.
Professional drivers in the Yesway loyalty program spend three times as much on food and other merchandise as members of the basic tier. The company keeps foodservice items such as Allsup's burritos affordable, and it measures how long fuel transactions take so slow pumps can be repaired. Earlier this year Yesway engaged Gravitate to automate decisions on fuel inventory and logistics.
Yesway plans to build 130 new stores over the next five years in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arizona, where it recently opened its first c-store.
Source: Trucking Dive - https://www.truckingdive.com/news/how-diesel-is-powering-yesways-gains/833753/