High’s hones four pronged convenience approach in Maryland

High’s, the 60-strong convenience store chain serving the Mid-Atlantic region in the US, has four key strategic directions and they are very closely aligned, according to senior vice president Brad Chivington.

They include driving growth and profitability in food and beverage, improving the customer experience, leveraging technology for better data and insights and increasing the business’s employee engagement.

The four goals follow on from High’s rebranding exercise, which was launched in 2017 and designed to unify a disparate mix of legacy stores and update the brand. High’s partnered with Three Sixty Group on the rebranding project, which has emphasized fresh food in terms of the look and feel of the stores but would keep a connection to High’s dairy and ice cream heritage, in particular, through the use of a cow motif.

To date, High’s has remodelled and reimaged approximately 40 of its total 60 locations. Chivington reports that this work includes graphics, imaging, floors, restrooms, lighting, and expansion of food service. The most recent introduction has been the addition of digital boards for messaging and advertising; and the business is now focused on completing the exterior touches.

“It’s been a multi-year journey to get everybody to the same look and feel,” he says.

In parallel, High’s is continuing to grow through acquisitions and new-to-industry sites.

The latest new-to-industry site was opened in August and there are a few other locations in the queue, Chivington says. The remodelling of the existing network includes a mix of conversions within existing walls, building expansions, as well as raze and rebuilds; with a focus on a food centric offer.

In addition, High’s parent company, Carroll Motor Fuel, operates a network of 300 plus dealer locations in the Mid-Atlantic region so there is potential to bring some of these sites into the High’s network and make them company-operated locations, Chivington says. By the same token, an underperforming High’s site could move over to the dealer network.

Food focus

In tandem with the rebranding piece, High’s has been on a foodservice journey to offer more fresh food and be more relevant, Chivington reports.

Ice cream, which is a heritage item at High’s, had become less important when Chivington joined the business in 2017 However, he recognized it was a unique product and an offer that would resonate with the consumer. Plus, none of High’s competitors are in the ice cream business.

“We took lot of time to find a manufacturing partner to do small batch, super premium ice cream, using natural and fresh ingredients,” he says.

In addition to hand dipped ice cream, High’s offers milk shakes and sundaes as well as a full assortment of flavours in take home packaging for guests.  High’s continues to introduce new flavours and limited time offers to appeal to the demand of guests.

Ice cream enables the business to compete outside of the key day parts – breakfast and lunch – where convenience stores traditionally thrive.

“Evenings and weekends are when ice cream becomes a treat and that ties well with the communities where we operate” Chivington says.

One recent addition includes a partnership with the Baltimore Orioles baseball team with the launch of a Birdland Blend variant featuring caramel nougat inclusions themed in a special edition packaging.

Freshly hand breaded chicken (bone in and tenders) are an essential menu item in the Mid-Atlantic region and High’s has developed a proprietary seasoned breading offer that uses fresh marinated chicken, not frozen. The retailer also offers a full complement of side dishes to go with the chicken.

“It’s grown significantly over the years and we have a full chicken programme in 20 locations to date and looking to add more locations,” Chivington says.

High’s also has a fresh hand tossed pizza offer that includes 7in personal size, made-to-order pizzas as well as larger,; 14in take home pizzas, which can be made-to-order or order ahead.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth in our pizza business and the majority of our locations have it now,” Chivington reports.

In addition, High’s serves traditional breakfast sandwiches, hot and cold lunchtime sandwiches, which can be either made-to-order or grab and go.

Regional specialties have been another hit for High’s. Crab cakes, for instance, are a big local menu item and the retailer has worked with a local provider to develop a delicious crab cake, which can be served either as a sandwich or entree with sides.

The Mid-Atlantic’s Chesapeake Bay is also renowned for rockfish, so High’s has developed a rockfish sandwich which resonates within its market. Pit beef sandwiches are another signature Maryland item that High’s has added to the menu. “We have a traditional offer but try to find signature and unique items that differentiate us from the competition,” Chivington says.

Consumers expect and can find high quality food products in High’s c-stores. “The industry has done a good job of elevating food and food quality over the years. We’ve broken the stigma of getting food from a gas station.

Quality ingredients and advances in cooking equipment have helped – in a short time you can turn out a very high quality product,” Chivington says.

Customer centricity

The customer experience sits at the centre of High’s business strategy.

“We centre all of our business decisions on the customer experience first, without customers we would not exist.” Chivington smiles.

Experience matters because the consumer today has so many choices in convenience and not just from traditional providers but supermarkets and QSRs, for example.

High’s focuses on both in-store details and its associates’ customer engagement, which is measured via mystery shopper visits.

According to Chivington, engagement includes greeting and acknowledging a customer coming into store, offering to help and assist, as well as making relevant suggestions. Associates should also engage with customers on the retailer’s rewards programme, to check that they are aware of it and provide helpful pointers.

Finally, there’s the ‘thank you’ piece but the whole engagement process must be genuine and not robotic, Chivington says.

Store conditions also shape the customer experience and High’s places an emphasis on standards on the forecourt and at the pumps, where there are trash cans, screen wash and squeegees; and in-store, where rest rooms have been remodelled and now include diaper changing stations, hand driers and touch free water dispensers, for example.

Chivington reports associates are trained extensively on customer service. In addition to the mystery shoppers, district managers measure the customer experience and High’s tracks its rewards-based transactions to understand how well the business is engaging with its customer base.

For High’s retail really is detail.

“Our stores are clean and have a fresh look. We have enhanced the lighting on the gondolas to call out the product, the coolers have LED lights, and we focus on the cleanliness of the display cases etc. It all presents how much you care and helps to deliver a good experience,” Chivington says.

Labour challenges

For High’s, like many c-store operators at present, labour presents one of the biggest challenges.

“In some markets it’s more challenging to find applicants and hire than in others but we have active recruiting teams, using digital, online and in- person referrals to find people. In other markets finding applications is not as challenging but there’s the retention piece – finding people that want to work and do the work, so that can be a bit of a challenge,” Chivington says.

Chivington reports High’s is focused on connecting and communicating with associates to discover what’s important to them and make them feel valued. For example, some associates want flexible schedules while others prefer to be more regimented.

This people first approach pays off. “We’ve found management teams set the tone and temperature for the staff. If you have the right attitude and personality at the helm, you tend to have more stable teams,” he says.

Pay is another factor. While the State of Maryland is on the path to a mandated $15 per hour as a minimum wage, many people are being hired at or above that rate of pay plus there are more businesses competing for a limited workforce.

High’s also works hard to create environments where associates can have fun. It has an employee engagement app called Go Happy, for example, and communicates with teams digitally.

It hosts trivia questions and suggestive selling contests and recognizes and rewards employees monthly, as well on-site spot rewards for great customer service or going above and beyond. We take time to delivers gifts and treats at holiday time and organizes themed dress up days for our associates.

“We try to do things a little bit differently to create a better environment for the team and build that culture that they want to feel connected to,” Chivington explains.

Inflation is another key retailer challenge. Here, High’s looks at where it can add value for shoppers either through pricing or multiple deals. The retailer also leverages its loyalty programme to reward the customer and encourages them to engage to earn free coffee, pizzas and ice cream, discounts on tobacco or fuel with different incentives offering cents off per gallon plus surprise and delight rewards. CPG discounts or free products such as a bottle of water or snack bar are also made available through the loyalty app.

On top of labour and inflation, supply chain disruptions continue to challenge c-stores. Chivington reports the industry is still trying to get back to its pre-Covid fulfilment levels. This includes store products plus parts for equipment that may need to be repaired. “It’s getting better than it was but it’s not where we would like it to be,” Chivington says.

New tech

Investment in new technology is adding to the customer experience at High’s too. The retailer has recently implemented self-checkout kiosks, alongside attended checkouts.
According to Chivington, the uptake has been good with up to 35% of all transactions going through self-checkout. They are really coming into their own at peak times and enable High’s to redeploy labour from the checkout area to the foodservice area, for instance.

For customers who want to skip the line altogether, High’s mobile app  features a ‘Skip’ application, which allows shoppers to scan product barcodes and go frictionless. The mobile app can also be used to order ahead for curbside pickup.

“We’ve seen that  frictionless and self-checkout continue to grow which indicates the consumers’ preference on how they want to shop with us. Technology plays into that – for some people, a device gives them a good experience. For others, it’s the human interaction that gives them a good experience,” Chivington says.

And customers will be given a further way to shop with High’s later this year when the retailer implements delivery either via self-delivery or a third party.

Community involvement

While High’s has a 95-year heritage in the Mid-Atlantic, it’s not complacent and continues to connect with the community in a variety of ways.

In 2022, for instance, it launched a ‘keep the change’ programme, enabling shoppers to round up their payments and donate the overpayment to a charity.

High’s chose six charities, each running on a two-month cycle during the year. They included food shelters and food banks, a veteran’s group, animal and pet shelters, a cancer charity, and the Red Cross. Many suggestions came from employees and the final list spanned both local/community projects plus larger scale charity organizations.

“Everyone can relate to these types of charities from personal experience to feel connected,” says Chivington.

High’s also participates in local events in the communities in which it operates and will donate food and beverage items, as well as employee time, and will typically match the amounts that are raised.

“It’s being a good neighbour in the communities in which we operate. Many of our stores are connected in the community so it puts a face and a name together and becomes a more personal connection,” Chivington adds.

What’s next?

Looking ahead, High’s will keep progressing on its four strategic directions, says Chivington. In terms of food and beverages, that means looking for new items to introduce into stores and specifically within its fresh cases and cold fridges. “There will be some great new products coming out,” he says.

In Ice Cream we will be adding eight new ice cream flavours in the spring including variants with inclusions similar to a leading brand plus a partnership with Hershey to include dessert treats with ice cream. High’s also aims to grow its pizza and chicken proposition and add new signature sandwiches to its lineup.

From a customer experience perspective, High’s aims to continually strive to improve via tech and its associates and engage through the mobile app. Plus, there will be the new delivery service.

The company will also leverage new technologies to gain better data and insights to make better business decisions.

Finally, High’s intends to enhance its employee engagement and show associates and potential employees there are career paths and opportunities. At High’s these are not just at store level but in the corporate office, at the retailer’s parent company Carroll Motor Fuels in fuel procurement, transportation, accounting, maintenance, marketing etc.

“It often starts out as a job, but we want them to look at it as a career and that there are lots of avenues people can grow into,” Chivington says.