WE CAN determine our future, because the tools to create that future are at the NACS Show. This year’s attendees discovered new ideas in our three days of general sessions. Our incoming and outgoing chairmen, as well as NACS President and CEO Henry Armour, shared insights and anecdotes to inspire the crowds.
Frank Gleeson
2018-19 NACS Chairman
“Cead Mile Failte. That’s Irish Gaelic—my native language. It means 100,000 welcomes, which is our traditional greeting at an event like this or for guests to visit my native country.
It’s one of dozens of languages you will hear at the NACS Show because we have attendees from more than 70 countries.
Well, I started with 100,000 welcomes so let me continue with that theme. I want to answer a question I’ve been asked nearly 100,000 times this year: What was your favorite day as chairman?
My answer is: the eighth day of the eighth month.
As NACS chairman, my role there was to speak and engage with 40 of the young, new leaders in our industry.
Why was that my favorite day as NACS chairman? That was the day I was at the NACS Executive Leadership Program at Cornell University. It was the first time I had been there since 2003—when that weeklong leadership course transformed my career.
As NACS chairman, my role there was to speak and engage with 40 of the young, new leaders in our industry. But back in 2003, I learned the difference between being a manager and being a leader. I grew my confidence to accomplish all the things I saw before me, whether trying new ideas or building out my network. And I began my engagement with NACS, which turned out pretty well.
The 8th of August was one of my favorite days this year because it reminded me of how I transformed my career.
And there is one more reason I loved the NACS experience at Cornell University. I believe in lifelong learning, whether in the classroom or outside. And that is especially important because the pace of change is accelerating. You need to stay on top of issues, whether they are in your neighborhood or halfway around the world. And that’s why our global engagement is so critical. We need to know what is happening around the world because these issues are just around the corner, if they aren’t already affecting you.
Let me talk about things that I think about every day…”
To hear about what keeps Frank up at night, watch his speech in full below:
Henry Armour
NACS President and CEO
“Everyone in this room has great stories to tell about their businesses—that no one hears about. We rarely tell the stories and get credit for the great things we do. And we have so many great stories to tell.
First, food. Six years ago we were often demonized for the food we sold. The perception was that we sold unhealthy, and only unhealthy, food in our stores. Well, we thought a different story could be told. So, we went to work telling our story and working with every health-focused group we could find.
Of the hundreds of leading businesses that are part of Partnership for a Healthier America, NACS—our industry—was given the prestigious Partnership for a Healthier America’s Partner of the year award earlier this year. That’s a great story to tell.
Second, we are telling our story to elected leaders. And a few weeks ago, we reached a landmark number: We held our 100th NACS In Store event in which we invite members of Congress to work a few hours in a convenience store to learn more about our industry firsthand.
We, NACS and you, just need to tell the stories.
And for this special event, we held it in Washington, D.C., and even brought together a Republican and a couple of Democrats. We don’t get much bipartisanship in Washington these days, but both sides of the aisle can agree on the value of convenience stores in their communities.
Third, is an exciting new program we launched this summer. We own 24/7 operations and have a great story to tell about what they mean to our communities—especially to first responders and others who rely upon us around the clock. So, we launched 24/7 Day to tell our story. And we picked the only day that really made sense: July 24, or 7/24.
So many of our member companies in so many ways support first responders—the firemen, policeman, EMTs, doctors and nurses delivering disaster relief wherever and whenever it’s needed, 24/7.
We asked Sheetz, Wawa and RaceTrac to run a first responders recognition promotion on the same day. Each ran a different promotion, but they were all run on July 24, and all were targeted to recognize first responders.
NACS and our members lit up our communications platforms. And the results were terrific; many people heard about the great things we do—85 million media impressions across 130 news outlets and 3.1 million social media impressions.
We plan on telling similar industry-wide stories on how our industry is fighting hunger in our communities, supporting children’s health, funding education and building sustainable environments. And you’re already doing these great things. We, NACS and you, just need to tell the stories.
Now, let me tell you a little story of my own. In August, I took a 3,000-mile road trip moving a car of ours from Washington, D.C., to our home in Wyoming. I visited 14 members along the six-day trip on their turf to see what they’re up to and delve into the issues they’re facing. Let me offer four industry-related takeaways…”
To hear Henry’s four takeaways from his cross-country road trip, watch his NACS Show speech below:
Julie Jackowski
2019-20 NACS Chair
“At Casey’s, I am senior vice president and corporate general counsel. And when a lot of you hear the words ‘general counsel,’ you think of two things: One, what went wrong? And two, am I in trouble? For the record, no one is in trouble (at least that I know of).
So how did I get here? As a kid, I always liked the law. I really liked the concept of getting a law degree and helping people, particularly if I could focus on employment law.
That was exactly what I did, working for a small, law firm in Iowa. Until one of the partners pulled me aside after a meeting one day to tell me about a job opportunity at Casey’s General Stores. The job sounded like a great fit for me, especially because it focused on people and employment law.
I eventually got the job, and during the interview process, CEO Ron Lamb told me something as important as anything I’ve ever heard about our industry. He said, matter of factly, ‘Julie, you need to understand that if you come to work for Casey’s, an attorney is no better than our part-time donut makers.’
His point was that every person at Casey’s—regardless of education or job title—is critical to our overall success. The goal always—always—has to be to lift each other up to best serve our guests and our communities.
It’s an industry where leaders come together to share ideas and make it better. And that makes it really fun.
What Ron Lamb told me about Casey’s also holds true for our industry. We are successful because we help each other, we share ideas, like we are doing right here at the NACS Show.
And to quote another one of Casey’s CEOs, Terry Handley: ‘It’s an industry where leaders come together to share ideas and make it better. And that makes it really fun.’ And if it’s fun for those working in the stores, that naturally translates to our guests.
Casey’s operates in 16 states and has over 2,100 stores. In fact, we are the second-largest convenience store chain headquartered in the United States. But at the same time, we are small, especially in the communities we serve.
Our focus is to be that general store in small Midwestern towns, often with populations of only a few thousand. That’s a great niche—as long as you are the only one serving that market. But we’re not, especially in the bigger markets where we may compete with Kum & Go, Speedway or QuikTrip (both with a Q and a K), not to mention some very entrepreneurial smaller companies. But in every market, we also compete against the internet and expectations of unlimited inventory and fast delivery.
We’ve had to constantly redefine our offer, and that’s how we came up with ideas like made-from-scratch pizza and pizza delivery. And, recognizing that choice is everything, we also introduced a new build-your-own salad program.
Casey’s new brand campaign, ‘Here for Good,’ allows us to tell our brand story around different platforms. ‘Here for Good’ certainly relates to our food—it's fantastically good! And it is about the guest experience and relates to how we serve and give back to our communities, constantly striving to make them better.
Casey’s new branding is spot-on. It fits our culture and our purpose. But it also tells the story about our industry, and it could just as well tell the story of NACS! We learn from each other, we make each other better, and we are there for each other, each and every day.”
Julie shares examples how convenience retailers lift each other up, watch her NACS Show speech below: