“We’re not your traditional c-store.”
Quite the understatement from Pilot Company Chief Strategy and Information Officer Mike Rodgers. The chain, known until recently as Pilot Flying J, has more than 750 locations across North America open 24/7, serves three distinct customer categories, averages 4,500 customers per day, and operates 250 Subway shops and just under 100 Wendy’s and Arby’s among its dozen or so quick-service restaurant (QSRs) brands.
“So I think we’re the eighth largest restaurant company in the U.S. when you add in all our QSRs,” said Brian Ferguson, Pilot Company chief merchant. That doesn’t include dozens of leased McDonald’s and Denny’s franchises on its sites.
But Pilot isn’t content to rest on its laurels. The chain has its sights set on an aggressive growth plan to expand its footprint in Texas and other states, while also launching new foodservice offerings including a bean-to-cup coffee program, diving into food delivery, remodeling stores and investing in new technology.
PROs, RVs & Auto Customers
Pilot released its upgraded mobile app last year with benefits tailored to its three customer bases: professional drivers, RV customers and automobile travelers. For the pros, it’s a highly useful tool.
“You know, when it’s 20 degrees below zero in North Dakota and you’ve got to enter 14 different prompts into the pump to get it to start?” said Rodgers. With the app’s ‘mobile fueling,’ they can do it from the warmth of the cab.
But the app’s importance goes a lot further for those over-the-road drivers. For them, wheel time is strictly regulated. Booking a space to park for the night and a hot shower at the end of a long day eases time burned searching for those things.
“You know where you’re going to be that night; you know where you can park; you know where you’re going to start your next day,” said Ferguson.
For RV and auto drivers, the app lets them order food, redeem offers, monitor fuel prices, track myRewards points, Coffee Club status, store payment info and purchase history, and a host of other amenities.
Familiar Faces
While technology can seem magical, Rodgers said it shouldn’t replace people; it should free them up for customer service duties by taking friction out of the transaction.
“How do they help them with their day? How do they make them feel good and feel good coming back? Again, the human interaction part,” said Rodgers. “So we’ll be investing in technology to automate some of those transactions that occur in the store.”
For those professional drivers, the human element is even more important. Hauling long distances on America’s roads, pulling in for food and fuel is also a stop for some friendly human interaction.
When so many drivers repeat the same routes, they’ll gravitate to the same Pilot stores because of the friendly relationships they’ve made with the familiar folks working there.
“So, our really good associates understand that,” said Pilot Chief Operator Jason Nordin. “They try to deliver that kind of personal connection.”
‘Best Coffee on the Interstate’
Ferguson boasted that the chain’s slogan, “Best Coffee on the Interstate,” holds true.
“We’ve invested a ton in bean-to-cup,” he said, “which you’ll hear that barista parallel drawn where you can go and get your freshly ground, make-your-own cup of coffee.”
At press time, the company had plans to unveil “a ton” of new food offerings by the end of 2019.
Ferguson is also plenty proud of Pilot Company’s current offerings.
“I would put our pizza and wings up against any restaurant chain in America,” he said. “That’s just not the big guys who deliver to your house, that’s anybody serving wings and pizza in America.”
Ferguson is also excited about Pilot’s efforts in the home delivery arena. There’s an opportunity, he said, to capture customers at home on their sofas. So far, the company has tested the program in Knoxville, Tenn., and is ready to launch it at nearly 100 locations.
“What we can do is serve dayparts that not a lot of QSRs and normal restaurants do, right?” he said. “So, late night, early morning, we have all these incredible products — like pizza, wings and every other product in the store that you’ll be able to order over Uber Eats.”
Ferguson gets even more animated when talking about the company’s Thungry promotion, now in its fourth year, which offers with any beverage purchase a ‘buy one, get one free’ of a rotating special product — for example, meat snacks.
“If you walk up to one of our stores in Avon, Ohio, and you’ve got a $12.99 pack of Jack Link’s in your hand,” he said, “and you already have a soda or a bottle of water, our cashiers will say, ‘Hey, get another bag for free. Yeah, this one’s on us.’”
Ferguson stressed that the company’s performance in cold vault and grocery sales are powered by Thungry. The promotion is the result of partnerships with major national brands whose participation helps fund the program.
High-Tech New Builds and Makeovers
The company is also expanding its footprint with plans to build stores in Texas’ Permian Basin, where an oil boom is driving truck traffic. Pilot also has its eyes on Illinois for more stores, as well as the West Coast — Arizona, California and possibly Washington. Meanwhile, the company also continues investing in its current locations.
“When I first joined in 2016,” said Ferguson, “that first year, we did almost 15 store renovations. Last year, we did just around 30 to 40; we’ll do another 20 to 30 each year.”
These aren’t just fresh-coat-of-paint upgrades, either. The makeovers include indoor and outdoor LED lighting and store monitoring system packages. Through a partnership with NCR, they’ll also include state-of-the-art software solutions to offer frictionless checkout, speeding service and point-of-sale transactions, as well as easing upgrades and innovations.
“Our company is a collection of acquisitions over years. So we’re actually spending as much at modernizing the existing plant as we are building new stores,” said Nordin. “So we’re bullish about the future.”