A leaning maple lost its fight against gravity and smashed a footbridge along one of the paths in the woods near our home. The impact split a joist, but the opposite side remained intact, so for a couple of weeks, hikers and dogs alike gingerly tiptoed across the good side, testing their luck. At last, the damaged end of the bridge gave way, and on one recent weekend, two kind neighbors disassembled the structure—saving the good two-by-fours—and rebuilt the bridge a few feet from its original spot.
My husband and I walk our dog there nearly every day, so when our mutt trotted down the path to the bridge, he stopped short at the edge of the embankment where we’d always crossed the creek. What he didn’t notice is the new bridge just to his left, built mostly of the boards he’d walked across countless times. We guided him over the bridge and went on our way. The next time we crossed the creek, he knew just where to go.
Our salvaged footbridge remade with a mix of old and new timber is much like the pandemic year-plus from which we are emerging. Things aren’t quite the same as before, but that doesn’t mean they are bad. We remember the impact but also our resilience.
Things aren’t quite the same as before, but that doesn’t mean they are bad.
And so it is with the convenience and fuel retailing industry. This issue of NACS Magazine is an exclusive deep dive into the NACS State of the Industry Summit (SOI), which previewed the State of the Industry Report of 2020 Data, available from NACS Research this month, and shared what the experts see ahead. It’s a crucial year for the SOI Report because 2020 was an anomaly in so many ways.
Fuel margins reached record levels even as demand plummeted. The tobacco category, which had been declining, performed unexpectedly well, along with the beer, wine and liquor categories and the candy and snacks categories. That was not the case with foodservice, as we reported in the May issue and go deeper into this month. Packaged beverages overall had a good year, although sales for some items like bottled water and ready-to-drink iced teas were tepid. The big question is, will any of this last? I love the advice from Jim Jacko, senior category manager, Coen Markets: “Don’t set your planograms using data from 2020.”
I’d amend that a bit to advise: Use last year’s data to benchmark your business, figure out what you can build on and what’s too broken to reuse. Then chart a course to what’s next.
Enjoy your summer—and if you live on the East Coast, marvel at the 17-year cicadas.
