Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The blizzard conditions that have hammered over one third of the U.S. have most grade-schoolers thinking about days and weeks of no school and tons of sledding. But the execs of many retail outlets, convenience store chains, and even the representatives on Capitol Hill have a little bit more bleak outlook. While sales of bread, milk, and of course sledding gear are likely sky-rocketing, on the whole, snow days are not good for the economy.

First of all, travel is down for obvious reasons. So, of course fuel sales are down, but in fact c-stores don't make most of their money on fuel sales. It's the peripheral items that make their businesses float. And, while fewer people are driving, that means less Little Debby's, 36 oz. slushies, fountain sodas, and the like.

Other retail is feeling the same strain--especially in the midst of one of the year's biggest shopping holidays: Valentine's Day. When a blizzard struck Indianapolis on Valentine's Day two years ago, hospitals prepared for a baby boom in November. Do the math. And, while that may seem like a splendid way to spend Valentine's Day to the consumer, the retailers aren't so pleased. Most of the common Valentine stock is perishable--flowers, chocolates, cakes, etc.--cannot be stocked away for next season.

There are other economic indicators that dip during a blizzard, too. New home construction hits a stand-still. Home sales are postponed due to the inability to show, list, and even perform inspections for closings. Countless businesses lose days and weeks of valuable productivity. And, as Reuters reported, local and state municipalities are asking for federal aid to cover the cost of digging out.

But this is common to any snow storm. The phenomenon with this most recent onslaught of snow is how widespread it is. We're not talking about one mall, one city, or on region seeing a slow-down for a few days. This blizzard has affected over a third of the nation, and 8 of the 10 most populous states in the Union.

The snow may be melted by March, but it will be 3rd quarter before the full economic impact can be measured.

Labels: C-store, Convenience Stores, Economy, Retail, Snow Storm

posted by Nick Carter at 4:53 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Early in my career, I was working on a major account sale with a relatively new product to market. The building design and construction industry had been (and still is, to a large part) plagued by huge design files and geographically dispersed design teams. We had the solution, or so we thought. After unveiling a revolutionary web-based project management and file repository solution, we couldn't believe the reaction. I think I know how comedians feel when they get booed off stage.

You see, these guys weren't designing Aunt Jane's new sun room, or even the new shopping mall on the outside of town. Big contracts in architecture are big buildings--precisely the kind of buildings that make the top of the list of terrorist targets. Or, worse yet, government buildings with intense security requirements.

"Store our design files on the internet?" they scoffed. "Are you crazy?"

Indeed, it would seem, we were. We neglected to realize that these users relied on VPN and firewalled tunnels, not because they didn't know any better, but because even email was unsecured. The DOD had even banned USB drives for a period of time. What they needed was a broadband network that never touched the Internet. A layer 2 broadband network.

Architecture is just one example, though, and frankly one of the less strict when it comes to security standards. For retail and hospitality establishments, especially the c-stores that dot our rural landscape, passing credit card data from point-of-sale to central nerve centers must also be accomplished without ever touching the network layer (Internet). Where can you find a PCI-Compliant broadband network that can connect even the most remote of locations with broadband speed?

Accel Networks fixed wireless broadband solutions offer the security of layer 2 isolation. What's more, our solutions have been CISP certified and are PCI-Compliant. When you face challenges of both network access and security considerations, no other solution has you covered like Accel Networks.

Labels: Convenience Stores, Fixed Wireless Broadband, Layer 2, Rural Broadband

posted by Nick Carter at 5:32 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Monday, September 21, 2009
In a recent article from Telephony Online: Fixed wireless broadband solutions: Five quick wins for the downturn, writer Rich Karpinski built on a strong point that what we all need in a down economy is quick sales. Look for opportunities with short sales cycles, he advises, to shore up the short term numbers.

Not bad advice. Not bad at all. But Rich then goes on to cite five areas where he believes that fixed wireless broadband providers can find surprisingly short wins. Here's where the content gets shaky. First, three of the five suggestions entail video streaming over wireless broadband. Not to knock our own product, but the bandwidth demands of video streaming, particularly to meet the real-time requirements of the security applications he suggests, may leave prospective buyers uncertain about wireless. Can it do it? Sure can! Can it be a quick sale? With doubts and preconceived notions looming, not sure.

Second, four of the five suggestions entail selling into some form of state, federal, or local government. I don't know about you, but I've never thought of government sales and quick sales in the same sentence before. Government procurement is one of the slowest known to man.

So, where should the wireless industry turn for the quick sell?

1. Stick with commercial. Non-profit and government sales are rarely quick. And, the resources that often go into a government sale might mean lower profit margins in the end.
2. So, where do we find profitable commercial customers with money to spend? C-Stores. Convenience Stores have flourished in the down economy.
3. Not only that, but c-stores also have another key attribute: the need for quick-launch solutions. So, where else do we find that demand? Construction sites. Incubator Office Space. Just to name a few.

Labels: Convenience Stores, Economy, Fixed Wireless Broadband

posted by Nick Carter at 10:13 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Texas is a massive state. Second in size only to Alaska, Texas is over a quarter million square miles. And, while it's also second in population in the U.S. with over 24 million people in the great state, 75% of its population reside in the 60,000 square-mile region of booming metropolises like Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio that dot Texas' Eastern portion.

What remains outside of these large cities and towns reaching inward from the Gulf Coast is an expanse that many simply call "West Texas"--as if it were a small sliver of the larger state. In reality, West Texas spans 3x the square mileage of East Texas and is dotted with nearly 2300 rural settlements, called Colonias, characterized by poverty and lack of basic infrastructure.

In the 630-mile drive along Interstate 20 from Dallas to Juarez, you can expect to see no more than one city along the way that boasts more than 100,000 in population. A handful of others dot the trail with a few thousand souls. But for the most part, a whole lot of small towns.

So, if you're ever so inclined to make this drive, think of two things: first, that your A/C is fully charged! Second, when you want to swipe your card at the gas pump... how does anybody get broadband out here? Or, when the officer stops to help you with a flat tire, does he even have email back at his station? How many stores, companies, and even government agencies in this remote part of our country go without the high-speed connectivity many of us take for granted?

The Texas DIR recently tapped into Accel Networks' unique fixed wireless broadband service to provide at least one solution to this problem. Via partner RealCom Solutions, state and local government agencies have special discounted prices for what could be the only broadband solution viable in many areas. More than that, however, commercial applications rely on Accel everyday, too. Point-of-sale, convenience store registers, ATM's, pay at the pump, and just about any retail that requires cardholder data transfer needs not only broadband, but PCI-compliant broadband.

Everything is bigger in Texas, and when it comes to spanning hundreds of miles with a data network with consistent througput and broadband speeds, Texas' size is not always in its favor. Accel Networks is glad to help.

Labels: Convenience Stores, Fixed Wireless Broadband, PCI Compliance, PCI Compliant Broadband, PCI-DSS, Rural Broadband Access, Texas DIR

posted by Nick Carter at 6:15 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Wednesday, August 26, 2009
I pulled up to the fuel pump and immediately pulled out a credit card. Who goes inside anymore, anyway? After swiping the card a few times and ignoring the incessant beeps, I finally looked at the screen readout. "Please see attendee inside."

Oh great, there's something wrong with my card. I walked inside and found a line of customers waiting to pay. Not knowing the problem, I waited patiently to ask the cashier what seemed to be the matter with my card. After a few minutes, I learned the problem wasn't with my card at all. Their broadband was down and the store was operating on a backup network.

With broadband out and the entire store reliant on a dial-up connection, anything but business-critical applications were triaged, so-to-speak, on the all-but debilitated network. So, credit cards could be processed (and without an imprint, no less) but only at the counter, not the pump, and each transaction was accompanied by the screeching sounds of modem dial-up that I hadn't heard in years. The lottery sales were disabled. The in-store ATM was out of service. And tragedy of tragedies, even the application that tracked my reward points as a frequent customer of this particular c-store was out of order, so that day's $50 in gas didn't tabulate.

If you find yourself nodding as you read this description, realizing it's all-to-familiar for you, then I have an observation: you're just pretending to have backup. When backup doesn't actually back up the standard business functions, it's really a plan C, or D, but not a plan B. Fixed Wireless Broadband backup service from Accel Networks is full broadband throughput when you need it. In fact, it's so hard to notice when it's kicked in that we have enacted a service that alerts you when your backup service has been engaged. That's backup!

Labels: backup network, Convenience Stores, Fixed Wireless Broadband

posted by Nick Carter at 10:00 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Tuesday, July 28, 2009
What would you do if a state's economy was continuing to fall, retailers across the state were moving out, closing doors, shutting down, and giving up? Well, you'd step right into the voids they leave behind, right?

That's precisely what 7-Eleven plans to do according to the LA Times. They have reportedly hired a commercial real estate broker to sniff out 600 new locations for them. Why here? Why now? The vacancies left behind as other retailers move out make this the most affordable time to launch such an expansion.

What's more, it might even work, too! Believe it or not, while other retail business is tanking, c-stores sales continue strong. "When you're thirsty, you don't check your 401(k), you just go in and buy a drink." Commented Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores.

Labels: 7-Eleven, Convenience Stores, Economy

posted by Nick Carter at 8:59 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Tuesday, June 23, 2009
With gas getting more and more expensive these days, it's no wonder people drive less. But, don't c-store's make oodles and gobs off that pricey petrol? Well, if the cost breakdown that I've seen on stickers at the pump is correct, the retailer's share is slim-to-none. In fact, their are bigger problems for a c-store's bottom line than just their small share of fuel sales. When people buy less gas, they buy less inside, as well.

It should come as no surprise to many in the retail industry that fuel pumps aren't the business, they're just the bait. If you have a captive audience for even 60-seconds during a fill-up while kids in the back scream for a pop and the slushy poster is right outside their window... you can guess who typically wins this battle. The lifeblood of a convenience store is in food sales, not gas.

So what happens when people buy less gas? According to the Research and Markets Convenience Stores US 2009 report, sales have been trailing off since 2006. Why? Some possible causes include not only reduced gas consumption, but also shorter trips, less cross-country drives, which ultimately lead to fewer pit stops with a van-load of cabin-fever kids.

Stores today have to find more ways to make food service a strategic differentiator. Successful stores in our area have begun to create an atmosphere and experience that defies the typical gas-n-go we're all used to. Free wi-fi, higher-quality food, eat-in areas... all this amounts to one thing: changing the bait. When gas no longer brings them in, something has to. Convenience stores today have to become convenient for more than just drivers.

Labels: Convenience Stores, Economy, Wi-Fi

posted by Nick Carter at 6:08 AM Link to this Article  1 Comments

Tuesday, May 26, 2009
According to a survey conducted by Convenience Store News, first quarter numbers were surprisingly positive for c-stores around the nation. The Economic Pulse Survey asked stores to provide information regarding their sales over the same period in the previous year. A similar survey was conducted in December of 2008 to collect data from Q3, and yielded some depressing statistics. Nonetheless, the past two quarters (Q4-2008 and Q1-2009) were markedly positive.

CS News attributed the swing in gas prices to the successes and disappointments in c-store business. As prices plummeted in Q4-2008, stores recouped most of their expected profits for the year. Q1 of this year, then, started off on a very positive note. As the recession seems to be affecting nearly ever other industry, convenience stores are so far proving immune to the symptoms.

Stores remain optimistic for Q2, as well, but there's is no doubt that there is much trepidation surrounding the imminent rise of gas prices over the summer travel season. Still, an economist from Purdue predicts that gas won't come close to $4.00/gal. that we saw last summer. If this holds true, we may see an overall strong year in store for c-stores.

Labels: Convenience Stores, Economy

posted by Nick Carter at 5:21 AM Link to this Article