Caltex’s magazine for employees, franchisees & resellers
Issue 45 Oct – Nov 08
Gallery
Carmel and Tony Franza, winners of the Best Franchised Store of the Year Award
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Caltex Retail: “Getting it Right!” on the night
Caltex was the star performer at the recent Australasian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) Awards 2008, taking out the coveted Retailer of the Year awards in both the company-owned and franchise categories, as well as the prestigious Peter Jowett Industry Award.
AACS is the premier body of the convenience retailing industry with members including major retailers and industry suppliers. The Retailer of the Year award is the pinnacle of recognition in the industry and is based on a random sample of sites from each retail network being visited anonymously by the AACS judging panel on a number of occasions over a set period of time.
To win this award requires the retailer to display consistent retail execution and customer experience across all stores that are visited and judged. This makes Caltex’s achievement all the more outstanding given that network size and brand awareness are immaterial in the judging process.
Caltex Star Mart Heathcote (Northbound – 21CC Concept Store) won Best Company Store of the Year. The Award was accepted by Leo Pucar, National Retail Manager and confirms Calstore’s position as the leader and innovator in convenience retailing.
Franchisees Tony and Carmel Franza won Best Franchised Store of the Year for Caltex Star Mart Albert Park, Victoria. This is a tremendous achievement which is a testament to Tony and Carmel’s passion for the Caltex Star Mart brand and their commitment to “Getting it Right!” for their customers and staff.
Simple philosophy
Tony and Carmel have a simple retailing philosophy. It means getting the basics right and attending to detail. For this reason they’re on first-name terms with their customers, maintain a well-laid-out, spotlessly clean store, keep their five part-time employees well trained and motivated and, above all, work hard. The support of their Business Manager and team and a couple of other franchisees have helped them along the way, Tony adds.
“That’s what I mean about attending to detail,” he says. “Details in presentation are vital, not only in the way the shop looks but in how the staff are dressed. First impressions really do count.” For this reason, too, they maintain full shelves in accordance with the Caltex All Stars shop layout and planograms.
Running a convenience store has been a steep learning curve for the couple who less than two years ago had an old fashioned service station workshop. 18 months after moving to the new Caltex Star Mart convenience retailing format, the Franzas’ revenue has grown steadily and they’ve exceeded budget in every merchandising category, including coffee, pies, drinks and sweets. They run ongoing promotions and advertising to help attract customers.
Another key ingredient for their success is being welcoming, to show customers they’re appreciated. “People don’t have to stop here – there are plenty of other convenience stores around and our employees understand that,” says Tony. “We choose them on their abilities to interact with people.”
Rising Star
Naomi Jackson, New Product Development Executive with the Retail Operations Team at 2Market won the Peter Jowett Industry Award which recognises the best rising talent in Australian convenience retailing.
This award requires nominees to address a pre-set topic on convenience retailing and prepare a detailed submission for the AACS Board. Shortlisted finalists are then required to deliver a keynote presentation on their submission in front of all the AACS member organisations who vote for a winner.
Naomi went on to represent the Australasian convenience industry and Caltex in competition against other international winners at the North American Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) conference in Chicago in October – and won!
Naomi achieved the milestone for Caltex in claiming the “NACS 2008 Global Convenience Industry Award” on 5 October ahead of finalists from SPAR (United Kingdom) and BP (New Zealand).
LPS at work
Caltex’s Loss Prevention System (LPS) protects staff in a multitude of ways, in some circumstances even saving lives.
When Guy Todaro, Process Safety Management Specialist with Chevron, boarded a flight to Australia he was looking forward to a two-week assignment as a member of an operational excellence review team at Lytton and Kurnell refineries. Guy had spent two years at Kurnell until 2004 and hoped to catch up with colleagues from his time in Sydney.
Things didn’t turn out that way. As Guy got off the aircraft in Brisbane he noticed one of his legs was a bit stiff. Twenty-four hours later the discomfort had developed into a constant cramp. Guy did a Safe Performance Self Assessment (SPSA) to consider what was the worst thing that could happen. He decided to ask someone with the appropriate training and called his wife in Houston for advice, as she’s a registered nurse.
She recommended he take immediate action to minimise risk and go to the nearest hospital. It was very late at night but Guy asked Kurnell Operational Excellence and Risk Manager Mike O’Sullivan to take him to hospital.
The diagnosis: deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and life-threatening blood clots in his lungs. Guy spent ten days in hospital, then had to wait another four weeks before doctors gave him the all-clear to board a plane to the US at the end of August. Some of that time he lodged with the family of his friend at Lytton Terminal, Geoff O’Mara.
This is a big shock,” says Guy, 50, who had no health problems, has never smoked and has no family history of blood clots.
He is grateful to Mike O’Sullivan for taking him to have the cramp investigated and feels lucky it happened in Australia where medical help is readily available. Now in Salt Lake City, he is having further treatment. Likewise, Mike is glad Guy did an SPSA and called him that night.
“This is where LPS and IIF (incident and injury free) pull risk reduction and caring for others together to get great results,” he says.
Mike strongly recommends reading airline advisory notices about exercise when flying. If you feel discomfort after a flight, do your SPSA and take action to have it checked by a medical professional.