RaceTrac
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
RaceTrac Petroleum is a discount brand of gasoline and chain of convenience stores situated across the United States. The company has the following description of themselves on their website. RaceWay Petroleum is a sub-division of RaceTrac. RaceWay operates a discount brand of gasoline and a chain of convenience stores situated across the United States.
As of 2004, RaceTrac was Atlanta's second largest private employer with sales of $3.2 billion in 2003. However, by 2005, revenues had grown to over $5 billion. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company operates more than 525 company-owned and franchised gas stations and convenience stores in about a dozen states under the RaceTrac and RaceWay names. However, after recent corporate restructuring, RaceTrac only operates company-operated stores in 4 states (Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Louisiana). RaceTrac was founded in Missouri in 1934 by Carl Bolch. It has stayed a family business with his son, chairman and CEO Carl Bolch Jr., running the operations today.
RaceTrac's key to success in the 1990s was its cash only, low price, high volume strategy. While their stores now accept credit and debit cards, their strategy continues to focus on getting customers inside the store to purchase high margin items. The concept is very similar to that of QuikTrip, which is its primary competitor in the Dallas/Fort Worth and Atlanta markets. Both chains have new, clean facilities with plenty of on-site lighting, a large convenience area that contributes to a large portion of company sales, and generally lower retail fuel prices than other surrounding stations. In many cases, the RaceTrac and QuikTrip stores are located directly across the street or on opposite street corners from one another.
