The third day of the NAG Conference kicked off in Tampa Bay, Fla., with educational sessions covering a variety of hot topics facing the industry today.
In the first session of the day, attendees sat in on a panel discussion titled “Preparing for the Next Generation of Leadership.”
Panelists included Brent Mouton, president and CEO, Hit n Run Stores; Joe Sheetz, chairman, Sheetz Inc.; and Greg Ehrlich, president, Beck Suppliers Inc. The discussion was moderated by CStore Decisions’ Editor-in-Chief Erin Del Conte.
Humble Beginnings
Sheetz started out as a dairy in business in the early 1900s, Joe recalled. It was not until 1952 when Bob Sheetz, the founder, purchased one of the dairy locations from his father.
“There wasn’t even a building. He took a horse and buggy to the train station, picked up milk and served milk by the ladle,” said Joe Sheetz.
In 1961, Bob started integrating the family into the business by hiring his brother Steve to work part time at the store. Later in 1969, the chain opened its second store under the “Sheetz Kwik Shopper” banner, with Steve joining Bob as general manager.
Today, the company is led by Joe Sheetz — the son of Bob’s brother.
For Hit n Run Stores’ Brent Mouton, he mentioned that he was “still in the weeds” of the family business. Mouton’s two sons, who are fresh to the industry, joined the business in January 2023.
Running a family business can be complicated enough, but running a family business with children who are new to the industry can present even more challenges.
The Louisiana-based family business currently operates seven locations and is looking to grow through new builds.
Greg Ehrlich of Beck Suppliers shared a different perspective on family business, as he was formerly part of one that has since been disbanded.
Today, Ehrlich works as a close non-family member for another family business at Beck Suppliers, Inc. Beck Suppliers’ retail banner is FriendShip Stores, which operates dozens of locations across Ohio. The business was founded in 1950.
Beck said that his role in the company is extremely important as he can provide a third party perspective for the family — a practice that he encouraged all family businesses to follow.
Family Business And Its Challenges
Family businesses can get extremely complicated when it comes to operations and communication. Separating the family and the business, Ehrlich said, is crucial.
All three of these panelists have a system to attempt to separate the two.
At Hit n Run, Mouton tries to hold off work talk on the weekends until Monday morning. Sometimes, though, it can be difficult. To provide another layer between family and business, all family members at Hit n Run report to non-family members.
For Joe Sheetz, he was extremely concerned about the idea of family and business intermingling. So, when he was offered the job of CEO in 2013, he said he would accept on one condition — a board of directors needed to be added.
Sheetz’ concern was that with three former CEOs still around and a number of family members in the business, it would be safer to have a “tie-breaker” in the board.
Sheetz also mentioned that the company has completely separated ownership from leadership — there are plenty of people who own large chunks of the company and will never work there.
Beck Suppliers’ Ehrlich said that the company does a great job of separating business and family.
“Relationships are difficult. Families are difficult,” he said. “The most incredible thing I’ve seen in my seven years with the company is that communication and alignment from the top, which really set the stage for success.”
During the COVID pandemic, Ehrlich and the family were in frequent communication, mostly solving logistical problems and the countless hurdles that came from the pandemic. After a while, this turned into a weekly meeting where the group talks about all the issues and challenges facing the company.
The Sheetz team has a similar approach — every Monday morning, the executive committee meets for three hours. Sheetz said this was a tradition that dates back to 1987.
Succession Planning
There is one thing that all three of the panelists agree on when it comes to succession planning — experience is absolutely essential.
Every year, 8-10 leaders from Beck Suppliers get together to talk and plan for the future. They discuss who is retiring and who is expected to retire, and formulate plans to fill their shoes. In fact, Ehrlich himself was appointed as a result of a succession plan.
However, Ehrlich said, just because someone is in the family does not mean they automatically get the job.
“We don’t just take someone and put them in a role,” he said. “There has to be a role available.”
Once that role is available and the slot is filled, it’s all about rotation. New hires looking for leadership roles at Beck Suppliers need to have a complete understanding of the business, according to Ehrlich. Also, by rotating from department to department, executives can then determine the individual’s strengths and weaknesses, in addition to what they like and dislike.
The process at Sheetz is similar, but at a larger scale.
Sheetz noted that he will give family members a job based on the amount of experience that they have — many times this means they will have to work their way up the ladder. Family members at Sheetz also have to compete against non-family members for executive positions, especially when they’re in middle management.
“It’s not easy, and family members know they need to be the very best at what they do, not just a little better than their peers,” said Sheetz.
Sheetz has a succession plan for each of the top 250 people it employs, including different names based on different points in time, with the list continually being updated.
Mouton and Hit n Run, on the other hand, have a simpler process.
In a similar vein to the other retailers, Mouton noted that “just because your last name is what it is doesn’t mean anything to me or anyone else,” meaning his two sons will have to earn their positions based on merit, not family status.
Between the two, Mouton sees one as more likely to work on the operational side and one to work on the administrative side.
Mouton believes that his sons are several years away from being ready for the position.
A New Era For NAG
Later, in a subsequent educational session titled “The Meaning of Membership,” NAG Convenience Executive Director Allison Dean spoke to a crowd about the benefits of NAG as the group celebrates its 40th anniversary.
Dean highlighted the two key pillars of NAG: celebrating the convenience of today and investing in the convenience of tomorrow.
She also announced the exciting news that the NAG Conference, from here on out, has been rebranded to CStore Connections. NAG will continue to operate under the same name for the group, while the conference has been revamped.
“When you invest in connections, you invest in your business and your bottom line,” said Dean.
That’s not the only rebranding news — the Young Executives Organization (YEO) annual event has been changed to CStore Momentum.
In addition to the rebranding of the events, both organizations also modernized and reconstructed their logos.
“Everybody in the industry can get something from our CStore Decision efforts,” mentioned Dean.
Dean compared NAG to the loyalty program for CStore Decisions — she can get to know the audience, learn their wants and needs and work to provide resources tailored to them.
She compared YEO to the beer cave — it is age restricted, she joked. YEO focuses on the next generation of leadership in the c-store industry.
CStore Connections will take place in Charlotte, N.C., from March 9-12, 2025. CStore Momentum, hosted by Yesway, will kick off Sept. 18 and run through Sept. 20, 2024.
NAG Memorial Scholarship
For the past three years, NAG has awarded scholarships to retailers, their employees and their families in the name of Ken McMullen, who served as CEO at Weigel’s from 1948-2021.
Dean took a moment to recognize Ken and another c-store leader who recently passed away — Craig Neuhoff, vice president of GSP from 1971 to 2023, who the scholarship will be named after for 2024.
Scholarship details include:
- $1,000 per recipient
- Up to five awards in 2024
- Available for retail members and their children
- Applications are open now
- Closes May 3, 2024
