The 15-Minute Neighborhood: The evolution from 24-hour one-stop shops to 24-hour neighborhood centers
NACS Magazine | November 2017
EXCERPT: Those who fail to plan for tomorrow end up in the dustbins of history. Just ask Blockbuster. Or Borders. Or Radio Shack.
It’s time everyone in the convenience store category, big and small, got serious about tomorrow. The pressure is building as traffic is declining due to lower gallons of gas pumped and declining tobacco sales. Throw in the coming waves of electric vehicles and large, ubiquitous fleets of autonomous cars operated by the likes of Google and Uber, and we’ll see many “Blockbustered” convenience stores ahead.
There’s no reason to be mystified, stymied or flummoxed over this coming sea change. The good news is that the industry has time to prepare and reinvent itself. The future for convenience stores is not more of the same. You’ll need to change. The question is when and how.