RaceTrac receives 2014 Convenience Store Chain of the Year.
Last night, Wednesday, Oct. 8, Convenience Store Decisions honored RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. as the 2014 Convenience Store Chain of the Year at an awards dinner at Paradise Beach South at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
The event drew ore than 200 attendees from the retail industry to celebrate with RaceTrac. Headquartered in Atlanta, RaceTrac has been serving customers since 1934 and currently operates more than 365 stores in Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and Texas.
“For many years, the RaceTrac team has been recognized as one of the hardest working groups in the industry. Their dedication to detail, outstanding guest service, programs and constant evolution as a convenience retailer make them the perfect choice to join the elite list of Chain of the Year honorees,” said John Lofstock, vice president of editorial operations and editor-in-chief of the Convenience Store Decisions Group.
The Chain of The Year award is now in its 25th year, making RaceTrac the Silver Anniversary winner of the oldest and most prestigious award for convenience retailing in the industry. RaceTrac supplants Maverik, the 2013 winner of the award.
Brad Call, Maverik’s vice president of adventure culture, handed off the award to Allison Moran, CEO of RaceTrac and Carl Bolch Jr., chairman of the board and founder of RaceTrac. “This is a cool, cool award and I’m really thrilled you can accept it,” said Call, who noted RaceTrac is the “crème de la crème” in convenience retailing.
His advice to the incoming recipient? “It was a lot of fun to bring the award into stores and show it off. I’d encourage you to do that too.”
“Over the past 25 Years, Convenience Store Decisions has consistently honored convenience retailing excellence. And while there have been some companies gobbled up in acquisitions, the chains we have honored remain the industry leaders, starting with Wawa, the first chain of the year winner in 1990,” noted Lofstock. “While we are here to honor RaceTrac, this is very much a night to celebrate the work being done by the entire industry. And family-owned business like RaceTrac remain very much the backbone of the industry.
“Thank you to Convenience Store Decisions. We are honored to be the Silver Anniversary recipient of the 2014 Convenience Store Chain of the Year Award,” said Moran, adding that the company’s employees are the chain’s competitive advantage. “A very special thank you goes out to our loyal team members, as their hard work and passion is the reason behind our success and we could not have achieved any of these accomplishments without them,” she said.
For more on RaceTrac’s employee–focused culture, foodservice strides and industry growth, stay tuned to CSD’s November issue.