At 15 years old, Jay Luper started working at a Dillon’s grocery store (owned by Kroger) bagging groceries and cleaning and sorting bottle returns in the bottle room. Over the years he worked almost every job at the store, from cashier to customer service representative, before becoming a store manager at age 29.

“While I was a manager, I got to work on a number of special projects for our Kwik Shop side of the business. That’s how I got my exposure to convenience stores and I really liked what I saw,” he said. “I saw something that was really fast paced and a wild frontier of sorts, somewhere where I could make a difference. Convenience has a lot of room for opportunity.”

He soon became the manager of his area’s largest Kwik Shop, a 13,000-square-foot store that was akin to a small grocery format. He’s now worked in the industry for 37 years and is a district manager at EG America, which purchased Kroger’s convenience portfolio in 2018. Luper oversees 15 Kwik Shop stores across Kansas.

He spoke with NACS about:

[One customer] said that coming into the store and talking to me was the only interaction they’d had with anyone all day. We all have a powerful opportunity to impact others’ lives in a positive way.”

Why he’s made retail a four-decade career

It’s a fast-paced environment. There is always something to do and you get to use your critical thinking and service skills to reach positive outcomes for your customers. I have always liked the daily challenge of delivering the best for our guests.

His favorite thing about working in convenience

It’s the lives you touch daily and the connections I’ve made with people along the way. Once when talking with a guest, they said that coming into the store and talking to me was the only interaction they’d had with anyone all day. We all have a powerful opportunity to impact others’ lives in a positive way. I also love helping to train and develop the next generation of talent. You hand down your knowledge and see those people become leaders. One of the most fulfilling parts of this job is building them up and seeing them become successful.

What he would tell someone considering a job in convenience

It’s a challenging but rewarding environment. You have the opportunity to grow in the business and there’s always work to be done. The only limit is yourself. In this industry, there is opportunity for everyone, no matter who you are. If you want to put in the work and do the job, there are opportunities for you.