New look for neighbourhood store - Supermarket.co.za

Forecourt storewatch
New look for
neighbourhood store
Recently revamped Engen Go Go Convenience Centre is now
even better able to cater for its regulars in Reservoir Hills, Durban
By Laura Durham
Engen Go Go Convenience Centre
now provides a new take on the old
school concept of a corner store
thanks to state-of-the-art fixtures
and the Quick Shop’s new look.
This, coupled with management’s
determination to offer customers
the best prices on essentials is
sure to guarantee more loyalty
in the affluent neighbourhood of
Reservoir Hills.
Always evolving
Engen Go Go Convenience Centre was
originally built as a Mobil service station
with a motor spares shop adjacent to the
forecourt and motor vehicle workshop in
the basement. About 15 years ago, the
24-hour service station convenience store
evolution in South Africa transformed the
spares shop to an Engen Quick Shop
24-hour convenience store (C-store).
Competitive pricing and
award-winning customer
service make Go Go
Convenience Centre an
essential stop on the way
out of affluent Durban
suburb, Reservoir Hills.
Store: Engen Go Go Convenience
Centre
Location: Reservoir Hills, Durban
Total C-store trading area: 68m 2
Staff complement:: 22
Opening hours: 24
Transactions: 3 100 per month
The site is located on Mountbatten Drive
and is the only service station on the way
out of the affluent suburb of Reservoir Hills,
Durban, if you’re heading towards the CBD,
North or South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal.
Family business
The Randeree family used to be the
proprietors of Brilliant House tobacconists
& news agents in Grey Street in the Durban
CBD since the 1930’s. In 1992, store had to
close due to lack of manpower when one of
the partners passed away.
In 2002, Junaid Randeree was appointed
the franchisee at Engen Go Go Convenience
Centre. “I now apply the same values and
customer service levels I learned during
the weekends and school holidays while
working in the family business to my daily
life at Engen Go Go,” he comments.
Space challenge
Over the years, Randeree encountered many
challenges in terms of the offering at Engen
Go Go. The site is relatively small so he has
to ensure that what space there is, is put to
the most profitable use.
Customers complained that the old
Quick Shop layout had the daily essentials
spread at different corners of the store,
making a quick visit not nearly as quick and
wholesalebusiness Issue 5, 2012 27

Forecourt storewatch
Engen’s Reinvigorate
Programme normally
includes the installation of
a new Corner Bakery, but
it was impossible in the
68m 2 Quick Shop. Junaid
Randeree therefore decided
to focus on his core
business – daily essentials
convenient as they might like. Lighting
in-store was poor with natural daylight
blocked by the awning and low canopy. The
fixtures and fittings were also aged and the
entire C-store looked tired. It was time for
a change.
Revamped and ready
for business
Engen briefed the project managers to
get the site up to the specifications and
overcome all the issues to make the site
as customer friendly as possible. Engen’s
Reinvigorate Programme normally includes
the installation of a new Corner Bakery but
it was impossible to install one in the 68m 2
Quick Shop.
Randeree has therefore decided to focus
on his core business – daily essentials – in a
modern space that has been retrofitted to
provide convenience and a quick shopping
experience. Bread, milk, newspapers and
cigarettes are now within one area near the
cashier with easy access to chips and cold
drinks through the extra
wide chocolate and sweet aisles. The impulse
ice cream freezers are at the entrance with
the non-core grocery and personal care
range kept to a bare minimum.
“Rolling stock takes assist in pinpointing
areas where shrinkage is an issue and
remedial steps are taken to reduce this,”
says Randeree. CCTV cameras record all
movement on the site and transactions at
the till. There is also a 24-hour guard on
duty in the C-store.
Specialised reflective fluorescent lighting
fittings and halogen spotlights on the
special focal areas of the store have given
the store a totally new look. Jarrah wood
panels, grey store shelving and stainless
steel pay points with touch screen point-ofsale
systems complete the new image.
Jarrah wood panels, grey store shelving and stainless steel pay points with touch screen
point-of-sale systems complete the new image of Engen Quick Shops at the site.
Pictured above at the 31 August relaunch of Go Go Convenience Centre, from left to right:
Moulana Patel, Lenny Chetty (KZN retail sales manager), Junaid and Ayesha Randeree (dealers)
and Tshidi Modisenyane, network manager.
An in-store ATM adds more convenience to the Quick Shop’s offering, enabling customers to top
up their wallets as they top up their baskets.
28 wholesalebusiness Issue 5, 2012

MOVING GOODS
EFFICIENTLY
from Warehouse
to Till Point
Cape Gate manufactures a wide range of quality
materials handling and shopping trolleys designed
to move stock with maximum efficiency from the
distribution centre to the store, from the store to the
shop floor, and finally from the shelf to the till point.
A complete range that meets the needs of today’s
retailer from bulk handling units to 15 different
shopping trolleys that are specifically designed to
meet particular store profiles.
Materials
Handling
Promotions work very well to encourage extra spend and dealer, Junaid Randeree
plans on using social media to draw back old customers to the new look store.
In 2010/2011, the site won the Engen award for best service. Team building through cycling
and personal growth and development are important to staff and dealer at Go Go Convenience
Centre.
The forecourt was also fitted with stateof-the-art
tanks, pumps and equipment.
Serving trucks used to always be a challenge
but the new raised forecourt canopy ensures
that trucks can drive in without any issues.
Convenience is still key
Randeree says the C-store is very popular
with motorists stopping on their way to and
from home to pick up their daily essentials.
He says the peak periods are between 6.30
– 9.30am and 5 – 8.30pm.
Residents from the nearby duplexes and
flats also often visit the site. Top selling
items are bread, cigarettes, buddy cold
drinks and Red Bull. Airtime and prepaid
electricity are sold to provide maximum
convenience to customers. “Airtime sells
well but it contributes very little towards
the profitability of the business due to
extremely low margins,” he says. Lotto is
not offered as it causes congestion in the
parking lot and C-store when the Lotto
queue builds up in peak periods.
Catapult CGSR002
HEAD OFFICE - CAPE TOWN:
Tel: +27 (21) 937 7123
e-mail: ctsales@capegate.co.za
DURBAN: Tel: +27 (31) 709 2670
PORT ELIZABETH: Tel: +27 (41) 486 2538
BLOEMFONTEIN: Tel: +27 (51) 435 2081
JOHANNESBURG: Tel: +27 (11) 483 8541/2
GEORGE: Tel: +27 (44) 874 3736/7
Shopping
Trolleys
from
90l to 235l
designs
Flexi-Shopper
compact
shopper with
three baskets
wholesalebusiness Issue 5, 2012 29

Forecourt storewatch
“The shortage of parking space and tight
forecourt configuration could result in
customers driving off if they are in a hurry
and no parking space is available,” he says.
Premium price challenge
“Customers are prepared to pay between
10-20% extra for the 24-hour convenience
of shopping but I always try to keep prices
reasonable in my C-store,” comments
Randeree.
To ensure that suppliers don’t deliver
short-dated goods, expiry dates of all goods
are recorded on delivery notes.
Margins are generally lean and bank
charges and other expenses have to be
negotiated and scrutinised for overcharges
“to ensure that we get the best deal to
sustain and add to the profitability of the
enterprise”.
Randeree says he often negotiates and
shops around for the best deal on all the
known value items (KVIs) in the C-store
so that he is able to offer customers the
best possible deal. “My customers are also
extremely price sensitive and this helps keep
me on my toes in negotiating the best deal
with my suppliers for all my Quick Shop
purchases.”
Promotions also work well to encourage
extra spend. Randeree says he uses print
media and boards on the forecourt to
advertise the in-store specials. ‘Buy two get
one free’ promotions are extremely popular
with customers.
“We have a marketing plan to recapture
market share lost to opposition while
we were closed for the three months of
renovations. We are also planning to use
social media for our in-store promotions.”
This is in addition to the quarterly
promotions that apply to all Engen Quick
Shops.
Staff investment
Randeree says the site is very involved with
Engen and the My School Programme. “We
also contribute from our CSI budget towards
various projects in the community and
Engen promises to match our contribution
towards certain projects.”
He says staff turnover is minimal and
most of the training is done on-site. “Only
specialised fire fighting and first aid training
Go Go Convenience Centre’s core business is daily essentials,
which are now conveniently located right near the till.
Specialised reflective fluorescent lighting fittings and halogen spotlights
on the special focal areas of the store have given the store a totally new look.
is carried out by external service providers,”
he adds.
“Team members are encouraged to
study and progress their lives and it makes
me extremely proud that some previous
employees gone on to realise their dreams,”
says Randeree.
In 2010/2011, the site won the Engen
award for best service and staff members
were rewarded with tickets to watch a FIFA
World Cup soccer match. They also received
bicycles and full cycling kit from Engen and
participated in the Engen Dynamic Cycle
Challenge in 2010 and 2011. Randeree adds
that management and staff participating in
such races is very good for team building.
“Management is hands-on and all staff
have access to me on an almost daily basis.
Team leaders assist in delegating daily
duties and ensuring that service levels to
customers are of the highest level.”
Competitive community
Randeree says competition is tough in the
area with two 24-hour service stations with
C-stores within a 1km radius and a shopping
mall with major stores trading until 8pm.
“However, our competitive pricing,
award-winning customer service levels both
in-store and on the forecourt, as well as the
new reinvigorated Engen look sets this site
apart from the opposition,” he concludes.
30 wholesalebusiness Issue 5, 2012