BG Fuels takes all-in approach to selling beverage alcohol at Waypoint Convenience sites
BG Fuels is ready to roll out beer, wine and ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic beverages in all 75 Ontario stores of its retail operation, Waypoint Convenience, on Sept. 5.
Thea Bourne, partner marketing manager at BG Fuels who is leading the convenience and fuel retailer’s alcohol implementation program, says debuting the new category in its Ontario network all at once was the right decision for the Waypoint brand.
“It was in the best interest of the customer to bring this offer into our stores to ensure we are able to fulfill their needs and stay in step with the expectation of being a modern convenience retailer,” she says.
BG Fuels launched the Waypoint brand in 2019 prior to its 2020 merger with Greenergy. While spread out across the province, most of the retail network focuses on smaller cities and towns. They include three Waypoint/Esso combinations in North Bay, and Waypoint/Mobil locations in municipalities like Brockville, Stratford, Wasaga Beach, Welland, Huntsville, Haliburton and Picton.
READ: BG Fuels to trade as Greenergy following merger
READ: Global Fuels to acquire Greenergy's Canadian retail business
Because so many of its locations are of a smaller footprint, the 2024 Star Women in Convenience winner says “we’re tailoring the offer to each of our store sizes. This means our smallest sites will have a relatively concise offer of top-selling alcoholic beverages. Our larger locations will feature a greatly expanded product selection, and in some cases walk-in beer caves, allowing us to best serve our customers in each unique market.”
Waypoint Stoney Creek at 41 Upper Centennial Parkway, for example, which also includes a Mobil fuel station, is a location that is implementing a walk-in beer cave.
There are 77 Waypoint locations in Ontario, but one in Cumberland and another in Odessa, located in the Ottawa and Kingston regions respectively, are already licensed under the LCBO Convenience Outlet program. The program was introduced for communities that would otherwise have no convenient access to alcohol.
In addition to top-selling SKUs, Waypoint stores are also being encouraged to carry local products.
“We’re starting primarily with a mix of beer and read-to-drink beverages and giving our retailers flexibility to bring in product that’s local to their region,” notes Bourne. “We’re excited to carry wonderful local products in this category.”
For the Sept. 5 expansion of alcohol sales, Waypoint will roll out a robust signage program. “We’re also continuing to work on an expanded communications plan within AGCO guidelines that we’ll be launching across our digital media channels, as well as at store level,” she says.
BG Fuels is taking a “pragmatic approach” to in-store and forecourt changes.
“We’re working with our retailers and operations team to ensure this program is executed safely and to understand each location’s unique requirements,” says Bourne. “Once we see how the dust settles, we’ll make the necessary investments to optimize our infrastructure and layouts. From both a security and labour perspective we will be closely monitoring the situation from Sept. 5 onwards and will make the necessary adjustments as required.”
READ: What equipment are c-stores investing in to support beverage alcohol sales?
She is hopeful alcohol will become “an important part of our sales mix as the category matures.”
“There’s lots of potential for this to be a great success for our industry,” adds Bourne. “This success is likely to grow over time as the AGCO and Ontario government comes to have a deeper experiential understanding of the convenience industry, giving them more insight as to how to best serve the consumers in this channel.”
“Retailers and head office teams from BG Fuels as well as other banners will also play an important part in this evolution as we all work to execute this program in the safe and responsible manner the convenience industry is known for,” she adds.
BG Fuels, which is headquartered in Markham, Ont., operates 210 Waypoint Convenience locations across Canada, having added this year 15 new locations in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It also operates the fuel station banners Mobil and Esso.
