A store, warehouse and bakery tour conclude the two-day event.
The National Advisory Group’s (NAG) second annual Young Executives Organization (YEO) Roundtable hosted by Family Express concluded Tuesday, April 14 in Valparaiso, Ind.
During the two-day Roundtable, guests had the unique opportunity to learn firsthand about the operations of Family Express, a world-class convenience store operator with 62 stores, which continues to perform at an elite level across the convenience store and petroleum industry.
On the first day of the roundtable, attendees gathered at the Family Express headquarters for an inside look at training and innovations.
“If there is one component of our world that is worth emulating, if there is one thing you can take with you, it is that size doesn’t matter. Innovation is not exclusive to the big, powerful or well to do. Throughout our journey we have been well served by our passion to get to the promised-land independent from our humble beginnings,” Family Express CEO Gus Olympidis addressed attendees. “Our recipe for success is two fold. We pay attention to everyone. We are students, not teachers. The other is trying things others don’t do. We also copy and emulate everyone we can.”
Alex Olympidis, a member of the YEO board of directors and vice president of operations and human resources, spoke with attendees about Family’s Express’ living brand—the sales associates behind the counter. The chain is invested in building relationships with customers.
The company expects personable employees who go the extra mile and always greet customers. The company recently began paying $10 an hour. “We don’t expect minimum effort, so why would we pay minimum wage,” said Olympidis.
Attendees then toured the Family Express mock store where the company tests new products and layout options. Currently, the chain is testing pizza options. “We made a huge investment over three years to prepare from putting in water, drainage and three bay sinks in preparation for foodservice,” said Olympidis.
Every product and service Family Express offers is rolled out to every single store. “The customer knows if they can get it in one store, they can get it at all of our stores.” Olympidis said. The chain showed attendees the recently introduced European Café touchscreen latte machine that allows customers to make premium hot chocolate and lattes to their specifications via a touchscreen machine.
The company also recently added free ATMs about a month ago. The free ATMs have already brought a huge increase in transactions. “You can’t be the second in your area to do it. You are training customers to value the convenience,” Olympidis said.
In addition, air—such as to fill tires—is now free at Family Express. “We took an immediate and significant hit to the bottom line to offer free air, but there’s a nostalgia where people think, ‘I remember when companies didn’t charge for things like air,’” Olympidis said.
Later in the day, attendees received an overview of the company’s World Class training. The company’s training center is located in the company headquarters. Not only do potential employees need to pass an interview, they must graduate from a three-day training program. Olympidis pointed out that while it can be easy to demonstrate certain skills and traits in an interview, it’s impossible to hide a disingenuous personality for three days.
Guests also got an inside look at Family Express’ social media strategy, and enjoyed dinner at Pikk’s Tavern.
On the second and final day of the event, attendees went on a tour of a Family Express store to see the company’s foodservice, coffee and training programs in action. Guests were also treated to a tour of the Family Express warehouse and its bakery operations.
YEO’s Mission
The convenience store industry’s young executives and leaders of tomorrow face unique challenges as they grow their businesses. NAG’s YEO group was formed specifically to addresses these challenges and help the industry’s next-generation leaders identify solutions with others in their age group.
“The benefits of connecting with other family businesses, whether they are second, third or fourth generation are endless,” said Garet Bishop of BFS Cos., a member of the 2014-2015 YEO Board of directors.
YEO’s mission is to cultivate young talent in the convenience store and petroleum industry through implementation of education and networking. YEO accomplishes this mission by leveraging the experience of NAG members to help foster superior leadership skills.