Centex Petroleum's measured approach to growth is the key to its continuing success
Alnoor Bhura, president of Centex Petroleum, says that the history of the company is “a typical immigrant family story.”
His family in the mid-1970s came to Canada from Tanzania, Africa following a growing number of Ismaili Muslim leaving the country. The family settled amongst the Ismaili Muslin community in Calgary, where the father, Amir Bhura, worked as a mechanic at a local Turbo station, saving money until 1976 when he purchased his own gas station, a former Esso located in Inglewood.
Over time, Amir grew the operation and opened two other gas stations. In the meantime, Alnoor, the eldest son in the family, studied mechanical engineering at the University of Calgary and after graduating worked for a local engineering firm. His brother, Shafiq, graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
Over time, Alnoor grew frustrated with his work at the engineering firm and decided that he wanted to operate his own business. He reached out to his brother and together they opened their first gas station, then another and, in the mid-1990s, their father decided to step back from his operations, allowing the brothers to take over. When they opened another gas station, Alnoor said that and his brother received an unexpected phone call.
“We had an inquiry from a fellow who owned a Shell gas station whose contract was coming to an end, and he wanted to know if we would be interested in branding his site,” Alnoor recalls. “To be very honest, we never thought about that. We said, ‘Why not’ and that gave us the impetus to think about making our business larger and greater.”
However, expanding their brand in Alberta presented several challenges. There was an increasing presence in the province’s market of big box retailers with large gas station operations on their sites, which were attractive to their shoppers and others. This upheaval forced some gas stations to close and consolidate, but still it remained a very competitive market.
The brothers decided that if they were going to grow, they needed to focus on providing a high degree of customer service, while also competing on price.
The strategy paid off: Centex Petroleum now has locations across four provinces, with 55 in Alberta, four in Saskatchewan, 52 in British Columbia and 27 in Ontario.
Growing organically
Alnoor says that the success of Centex Petroleum comes from the measured approach the company takes to growth. In fact, the company doesn’t have a sales department actively seeking out potential gas station sites or pursuing new business partners.
Instead, the team carefully assesses each market it’s interested in and when it’s the right fit, the first site is always corporate owned. This allows the company to establish the brand, while evaluating further growth opportunities.
“For any given year, we have no set goal as to how many sites we wish to bring on,” explains Alnoor. “We look at each opportunity on its own. We are very conservative and if we find a site that aligns with our goals, then we move ahead with it.”
He believes companies that operate on an aggressive expansion plan often get into trouble, their reach exceeding their grasp. Centex Petroleum’s operating principals, however, comes from being a family business, and its corporate DNA is still that of a family business built on never getting ahead of itself. “I’ve seen a lot of companies get into trouble by being overly ambitious, pursuing growth for the sake of growth and getting themselves into trouble.”
This measured approach also reflects how Centex Petroleum deals with its partners. While not actively recruiting other gas stations to join their network or people wanting to open a gas station, when they do take on a new partner, they treat them as just that, a partner. They assist with upgrading new partners’ sites, pumps, and forecourts, as well as opening a c-store on site if they wish to operate one.
Centex Petroleum has long-standing relationships with POS suppliers Bulloch Technologies and Infonet Technology Corporation; fuel dispenser suppliers Keller Equipment Supply Ltd. and Waleco Inc.; and store equipment suppliers Raimac Industries Ltd., Western Refrigeration & Beverage Equipment Ltd. and McCowan Design & Manufacturing.
“We started operating our convenience store brand ‘Go Market’ about 15 years ago,” Alnoor says. “It took a long time to build the infrastructure needed for us to operate successfully on that retail side and I would add that in the last five years we have made significant progress on that side. I will say that our convenience offerings today are the equal to anything offered by the majors out there right now.”
Building relationships with First Nations
Seeing those who come to them as partners has been especially important for the ongoing work Centex Petroleum has been doing with First Nations.
Alnoor says that the company first started working with First Nations some 13 years ago, the first being with the Bearspaw Community, part of the Stoney Nation west of Calgary in Morley, Alta. They have since gone on and assisted in the development of the Chief Kehewin Travel Centre in Alberta, part of the Kehewin Cree Nation, and recently marked the one-year anniversary of the Blackhawks Travel Centre in partnership with the Beardy’s & Okemasis Cree Nation (BOCN).
While the community had a gas station, it was underdeveloped and was not serving the area very well. Centex Petroleum made it a priority to sit down with the Bearspaw Community and to take their lead in helping rehabilitate the site and upgrading the facilities and operations, making it an important part of the community which it was to serve.
Alnoor says that it is essential for any operator wishing to work with First Nations to be mindful of their concerns and understand how important a gas station and convenience operation often is to the community.
“In some cases, other operators sometimes had an adversarial relationship, so we instead made sure to let it be known that we are here to work with them and be respectful of them,” he adds. “That is how we have differentiated ourselves, that we are there to support them and that we will invest money with them and upgrade existing facilities or even construct new facilities and help them operate them so that they can generate investment and employment in the communities. We are willing to provide project management skills, design support and assist in training employees and other support to make it successful for everyone.”
Looking ahead, Alnoor says Centex will continue to evaluate opportunities to expand in British Columbia and Ontario. They will not rush things but take the careful approach that has allowed them to successfully grow the business since Amir Bhura opened the family’s first gas station as a new Canadian.
