With the second generation of the family active in management of the company and fresh off a major acquisition that more than doubles its footprint while adding vertical integration opportunities, H&S Energy has its sights set on continued growth.
Sal Hassan, who helms the company as CEO, founded H&S Energy in 1996 when he opened his first gas station in Cyprus, Calif. His vision was to offer a convenience store with foodservice, quality cold and hot dispensed beverages, strong customer service, and clean facilities.
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The chain grew steadily, adding stations almost every year. Now, just shy of 30 years later, “we have more family members in the business, and the team that has been with us from the beginning has grown into family,” said Amir Hassan, Sal’s son, who serves as president of operations for H&S Energy.
Sal’s brothers Victor Hassan and Moe Haris joined the business early on. Today, Victor is the chief operating officer and Moe Hassan acts as chief financial officer.
Sal’s daughter Hana Hassan serves as director of marketing and public relations for the company, and his daughter Laila Hassan acts as a marketing coordinator, handling graphic design, social media and all digital marketing. Their cousin, Reem Hassan, who is Victor’s daughter, is also a marketing coordinator, handling print signage and the company’s loyalty program.
“We’re still a family company,” Amir Hassan noted. “We operate like a family company, and I think it’ll stay that way.”
Today, H&S Energy operates more than 260 stores in California, Oregon and Nevada. The company currently operates under the proprietary banners Power Market (93 stores) and Pinnacle 365 (89 sites), and it’s also an Extra Mile franchisee (80 sites).
“We were actually (one of) the first multistore-operator West Chevrons to brand Extra Mile back in the early (to mid 2000s)” Amir Hassan said.
The company partners with several fuel brands, including all the major oil companies such as Chevron, Shell and 76, and it also has its own proprietary H&S brand of gas.
Doubling Its Footprint
In March 2024, H&S Energy acquired Andretti Petroleum Group’s convenience retail, fuels distribution, cardlock, fleet card, commercial fueling, car wash, lubricants and transportation businesses. The acquisition expanded H&S Energy’s presence in the Pacific Northwest and on the West Coast.
“This latest acquisition was the largest acquisition in the company’s history,” Amir Hassan said. “It gave us a footprint in that region. It also gave us footprints in different areas in Northern California, such as the Humboldt (County) and Eureka region, Santa Cruz, and the Central Coast of California. We were very excited to grow our retail footprint in those different regions, but at the same time, (the acquisition) helped us grow into new verticals. We became a distributor and wholesaler for fuel with different oil brands. We became a distributor and a marketer for lubricants. We got into the transportation business, so now we’re transporting our own fuel.”
This new vertical integration offers H&S Energy multiple avenues for growth going forward and also allows H&S Energy to be nimbler when it comes to decision making, he added.
On the convenience store side, the purchase added about 100 retail locations under the Pinnacle 365 banner and 20-30 cardlocks, as well as many dealer accounts. Over the next two to three years the chain will be rebranding those sites to the Power Market banner.
“Prior to the acquisition we had just under 100 Power Market stores, so now that has doubled in size,” Amir Hassan said. “We’ve already started some of the rebranding efforts with the new sites we’ve done. … Those will be the first Power Markets in the state of Oregon, near the Portland area. And again, over the next two to three years, we’ll get to converting the rest.”
As part of those remodels the stores will get an updated interior and exterior design; a refreshed layout in terms of schematics and merchandising displays; and hot food programs, dispensed beverage programs and coffee programs that match Power Market’s offering.
“The color scheme we chose for the remodels is very welcoming — neutrals, soft colors with metals and woods — just to make it feel like your little neighborhood market,” Hana Hassan said. “When you walk in there, it feels really clean, bright and welcoming. Blue and green, of course, are our main colors. We use very soft edges — no harsh edges, no harsh lines, very circular. It’s just a very welcoming design.”
H&S has a few raise-and-rebuilds of both new and legacy locations on the docket. One was completed in 2024, and one is currently set to open in the next few weeks. The chain also has about 10 new-to-industry sites planned over the next few years mainly in Northern California and Oregon.
The chain’s convenience stores currently range from 2,000 to 10,000 square feet. It also operates stations with small kiosks that only offer fuel. The c-stores it’s currently building from the ground up are neighborhood market stores that range from 5,000 to 7,000 square feet.
“What’s really exciting about building a store from the ground up is that you can lay it out however you want,” Amir Hassan said.
That includes putting more emphasis on its food program by placing it front and center in the store.
“Unfortunately, there’s still that type of stigma on the West Coast that gas station food is just that, gas station food. So having it front and center better displays a lot more marketing, and having a brand around it that the customer can trust and gain recognition with will help a lot,” he said.
Ten locations include electric vehicle (EV) chargers. One if its larger-format stores that spans 8,000 square feet offers a whopping 11 Tesla chargers. That site is located in Lathrop, Calif., and it’s a tourist attraction due to a large flying saucer that protrudes from the roof and alien décor throughout the interior. The “crashed UFO” design was added to the original store in 1999 before Power Market purchased it.
“It’s a very hot tourist destination that a lot of people come to,” Amir Hassan noted.
The other locations that feature EV offer ChargePoint chargers that are also branded with the H&S logo.
The chain also operates about 70 total car washes under the name PM Auto Spa. The car washes include two full-service car washes, 67 touchless car washes and one self-service drive-in bay car wash. In June, Power Market debuted its own car wash subscription program, which offers a monthly subscription called PM Plus. The subscription program has rolled out to 40 locations so far, and the chain plans to have all 70 car washes active with PM Plus by the end of Q1.
The chain also operates several boat and RV washes as well. “It just depends on what area you’re serving,” Amir Hassan said, adding that many of its locations in the Pacific Northwest are situated near campgrounds, mountains or lakes, making such services in high demand.
Expanding Foodservice
Today, H&S Energy offers both co-branded and proprietary foodservice offerings, but it’s moving toward a proprietary menu at all its sites “called Papa Sal’s, as an homage to our CEO and our father Sal,” Amir Hassan noted. “We went very cool with the branding. And you know, his face is on everything. It’s really funny. Our employees and team members love it.”
The chain’s prepared food and fresh food all fall under the Papa Sal’s brand, and it also features a proprietary “Papa Sauce.” The Papa Sal’s menu includes fresh made-to-order sandwiches, fried chicken, biscuits and salads, among other items. In 2024, it launched flatbread pizza. On the prepared food side, the chain offers pizza, hot dogs, taquitos and its Papa Sauce Fried Chicken.
As the Pinnacle 365 stores are converted to the Power Market brand, a lot of those stores will have the opportunity to include a larger food offering or introduce a food program for the first time.
“A lot of them didn’t have food or recently decided during COVID that they didn’t want to have food anymore,” Amir Hassan explained.
H&S Energy is evaluating the sites on a store-by-store basis to determine the best area within each store to place a food offering and whether there is room to build a full-service deli.
Over the next two years, the chain is planning to move forward “full force” with its food program, putting a strong marketing program behind it and ensuring customers know about the offering.
The company offers its own white-label Power Market delivery program. “We don’t have markups,” Hana Hassan said. “Everything is (priced) the same as in-store. Whatever we have in-store is on Power Market delivery.”
That includes the full menu and all products within the store. “We’re trying to give the customer that feeling that they’re still shopping in the store when they’re just at home on their phone,” Hana Hassan said. “We’re also incorporating EBT (electronic benefit transfer) and loyalty.”
Through the app or website, customers can select their closest store and see everything available through that location. The chain also partners with DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats drivers.
“I think everyone loves the convenience (of delivery), especially on the West Coast,” Hana Hassan said.
The chain first rolled out its delivery program during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We were actually the first convenience store in the West Coast to add on Uber Eats,” she added.
Investing In Technology
The chain’s Power Market app includes a rewards program, in-store deals, interactive games and a store locator map. Its in-app loyalty program, Power Market Rewards, has been a big focus for the chain over the past year and includes a number of campaigns, such as 31 Days of Summer and Power Fest, both of which feature free offers every day. The chain also did a 25 Days of Christmas campaign.
“This really increased our loyalty engagement, and I believe we increased by a total of 90,000-plus members just throughout those campaigns,” Hana Hassan said.
The company is currently working to switch the Pinnacle 365 stores over to the Power Market Rewards program. Power Market is also set to launch a points-based system for its loyalty program at the end of Q1. The program will continue to feature national consumer packaged goods offers as well as holiday campaigns and national food campaigns, but it will now also include a catalog of redeemable items alongside a points system where customers can earn and spend points.
“We’re using the messaging, ‘Earn while you burn.’ So $1 equals 10 points, one gallon equals 10 points. While you’re spending, you’re earning,” Hana Hassan explained.
The inspiration behind the change to the points system came from realizing, through analyzing data, that customers respond to the ability to earn things, and engaging them with ways to earn and spend points keeps customers coming back. Customers can redeem points for free items in the catalog or for cash back. All customers will also have a member discount on fuel coming soon.
“We don’t want to mention what that discount is until we launch it, because it’s going to be a big surprise when that comes out, but they will be receiving an everyday discount at the pump just for being a member,” Amir Hassan said.
In 2025, loyalty will be a major focus for the chain, with several marketing initiatives behind it. “I don’t think I’ll ever take my focus off of loyalty. …” Hana Hassan said, adding that offering more personalization for loyalty ensures customers feel important. Her focus is on continuing to create personalized offers and sending personal notifications.
“Now that we’re able to personalize and create user groups through our app, I can really target a customer that uses our app at the pump but doesn’t come into the store (with a free offer),” Hana Hassan said. “Or I could really focus on energy drink customers saying, ‘Hey, you’re usually in all the time. You haven’t been in a while. Here’s a free coupon for an energy drink.’ So just really being personal with that customer and then (continuing to increase our loyalty membership).”
Technology in general is a big focus for Power Market today, and it’s particularly interested in using technology to become more efficient and to better engage customers.
“If the technology can’t do one of those two things, we’re not going to invest,” Amir Hassan said.
Power Market used that criteria when it decided recently to invest in electronic shelf labels at all of its sites.
“It gives our store team members a lot more time to engage with customers, because they’re not out there having to change shelf tags every time there’s a price change,” Amir Hassan said. “It improves our customers’ trust and belief in us when (they) know prices are always accurate on the shelves, and then also, it helps the marketing team engage more with the customers, whether they are able to have promotion signage be more visible or have them light up when they’re on a loyalty discount.”
Power Market even has the option of offering happy hour discounting through the shelf tags, offering increased flexibility.
And, the chain has a road map of other tech initiatives it plans to pursue going forward.
“If you’re not investing in technology, or you’re not looking to push against some of the old norms of the c-store industry, then it’s going to be hard to compete in the future,” Amir Hassan said.
Planning Aggressive Growth
Growth is a major priority for H&S Energy as it looks ahead to the next five years and beyond.
“It’s on us — myself, Hana, my cousin Reem, my sister Layla and the rest of the team — to grow this company for the third generation, whether that’s through increasing our footprint throughout the West Coast or beyond, which is always on the table for us, or (whether) it’s to keep doing what we’re doing and just do it better day after day after day,” Amir Hassan said.
The chain aims to expand in multiple areas, including in retail, wholesale and as a marketer.
“I think with the latest acquisition, it gave us an opportunity to do that, because we are involved in many different verticals now,” Amir Hassan said. “We believe in this industry, we believe in this business, and we just want to keep growing.”
The chain has already surpassed the growth target it set just a 3.5 years ago, when Sal Hassan expressed that he planned to double the company’s chain size within five years.
“We’ve tripled in less than that,” Amir Hassan said. “I’m going to say, we want to grow, and we want to double in size every five years. That’s always our goal. Wherever we are now, we want to double in the next five (years), and if we get there sooner, like we did recently, that’s amazing.”
In order to reach for that goal, the company has placed a big emphasis on investing in its employees. H&S Energy is offering LinkedIn learning across its footprint for all team members, from cashiers to accountants, allowing them to take classes in leadership, project management, Photoshop and more. It has also invested in employees who want to go back to school. In addition, Power Market offers multiple training programs for its stores.
“We’ve developed what we call the H&S University to grow (an employee) from a cashier to an assistant manager to manager and then so on,” Amir Hassan said.
He added that without the company’s employees, “none of this is possible.”
H&S Energy’s company culture can be summed up in one word: “Win.”
“Everything that you do, just win,” Amir Hassan said. “Our company culture is just to be the best at everything that we do every day and to get better every day. We love the team that we have. Like I mentioned, they’ve grown to be family, and the family just keeps getting bigger and bigger and with no plans on stopping.”
Amir noted he’s often asked by people outside the industry about what the future of the convenience store industry will look like.
“I don’t know what it looks like,” Amir Hassan said. “I don’t have a crystal ball, but I can tell you that H&S is going to be here for the long run. We’re going to be here to serve our communities and to serve our team. Whatever the future holds, we’ll be here for it, and we’ll adapt to it. The key to survival is to adapt, and at the end of the day, win.”
