Канадская сеть магазинов Couche Tard: история и бренды

Canadian multinational convenience store company

Alimentation Couche Tard Inc., or simply Couche Tard, is a Canadian multinational operator of convenience stores. The company has 14,302 stores across Canada, the United States, Mexico, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Japan, China, and Indonesia. The company operates its corporate stores mainly under the Couche Tard, Circle K, and On the Run brands but also under the affiliated brands
Mac's Convenience Stores, go! (Go Store), 7 jours, Dairy/Daisy Mart, Becker's and Winks. Founded by current chairman Alain Bouchard, the corporation is based in Laval, Quebec, Canada, a suburb of Montreal. The flagship Couche Tard and Mac's stores, as well as some older Winks outlets, prominently feature a distinctive anthropomorphic red, winking owl. This mascot, named "Jandrice", was inherited from the Provi Soir / Winks chain when it was absorbed in the late 1990s. In French, "couche tard" means "(the type of person who) goes to bed late", with connotations very similar to "night owl" in English.

Alain Bouchard opened his first convenience store in 1980 in Laval. In 1985, Bouchard acquired 11 "Couche Tard" branded stores in the Quebec City area which he merged with its existing stores in the Montreal area to rename the whole company "Alimentation Couche Tard". In 1987, the company purchased the 7 Jours chain from Metro Richelieu, which Couche Tard has kept a separate chain to this day. In 1992, the chain gradually converted to the new discount banner "Dépan Escompte", beginning with 34 stores mostly located in the Quebec City area. In 1993, the company purchased 54 Mac's and La Maisonnée convenience stores from the troubled Silcorp Ltd. of Toronto. In 1994, Couche Tard completed the conversion of its 182 stores to the Dépan Escompte banner which included the Mac's/La Maisonnée locations but not the 7 Jours chain. and replaced the previous Couche Tard sleepwalker mascot from the late 1980s and early 1990s. In May 1997, Couche Tard acquired C Corp, a subsidiary of Provigo that owned the chains Provi Soir in Quebec, Winks in Ontario and Red Rooster in Alberta. Couche Tard, which was already dominating its industry, grew to 610 outlets in Canada following the transaction. The company has since revived the Provi Soir name in Quebec which it keeps as a distinct chain, much like the 7 Jours division. The new Provi Soir, basically a combination of rebranded Couche Tard and 7 Jours locations, does not feature the owl mascot from the original chain and its logotype is completely different than in its last incarnation. Similarly, Silcorp had consolidated several of the largest Ontario convenience store chains, such as Mac's and Becker's, under its ownership before being itself acquired by Couche Tard. As in Quebec, other corporate banners such as Becker's and Mike's Mart are slowly being phased out in favour of the dominant Mac's brand, although new franchised stores are still being opened under the Winks and Daisy Mart brands. In 2001, Couche Tard broke into the American market with the acquisition of 172 Bigfoot convenience stores from Johnson Oil Company of Columbus, Indiana. After making some tentative moves in the U. S. under the Mac's brand in the early 2000s, Couche Tard acquired the Circle K chain from ConocoPhillips in 2003, promptly rebranding its existing U. S. locations to the better known Circle K moniker. The Circle K brand is also franchised in Asia and elsewhere. Couche Tard held the master franchise for Dunkin' Donuts in Quebec since August 2003, but agreed in August 2008 to terminate this franchise within 12 to 18 months. In early 2010, Couche Tard started consolidating its outlets in Quebec by closing down many of those that did not do well in sales, and therefore allowing the successful ones to prosper. In all, over 300 stores were closed from 2010 through 2012. In 2014, Couche Tard sold off its Tiendas Extra chain, a subsidiary of Circle K, in Mexico to Grupo Modelo. In 2015, Manulife Bank of Canada reached a deal with Couche Tard to add its ATMs to 830 locations. On September 23, 2015, Couche Tard announced that it would relaunch the Circle K brand, and extend it to all of its stores in English Canada, the United States, and Scandinavia. The rebranding did not include its stores in Quebec, which remained under the Couche Tard brand. On August 29, 2016, the purchase of 53 Cracker Barrel convenience stores in Louisiana for an undisclosed price was announced. As in the case with most of its other acquisitions, the Cracker Barrel chain would also be converted to Circle K stores. The acquired chain stores all have gas stations, with the exception of one location, and 12 have quick serve restaurants. The Cracker Barrel chain is unrelated to the restaurant chain of the same name. In July 2017, Couche Tard announced an agreement to acquire Holiday Stationstores, the 18th largest convenience store chain in the United States, with over 500 locations in 10 states. In August 2020, Couche Tard was out bid by 7 Eleven's US$21 billion acquisition of 3900 Speedway locations from Marathon Petroleum. In July 2021, Couche Tard announced a deal to purchase the 226 retail gasoline/convenience stores and marine fuel terminal of Truro, Nova Scotia based Wilson Fuel for an undisclosed amount, pending approval by the Competition Bureau. The acquisition was completed on March 1, 2023. To alleviate competition concerns, Couche Tard sold 52 locations to Harnois Énergies.

Many Couche Tard locations are gas stations co branded with Irving Oil. The first stage of this partnership began in 2001 in Quebec. Both companies contributed locations to the partnership: some had convenience stores that previously operated under Irving's "Marché Mainway" banner, while others previously sold fuel under the Couche Tard brand. All these locations now have Couche Tard convenience stores and Irving branded fuel. The partnership expanded in 2008, as Irving leased its remaining Bluecanoe and Mainway convenience stores to Couche Tard, expanding the latter chain's reach into Atlantic Canada and New England under the Circle K brand. Irving continues to own the buildings and property, and supplies Irving branded fuel to these stations.

In the United States, approximately 470 On the Run stores are owned or franchised by Alimentation Couche Tard under an agreement with ExxonMobil announced April 29, 2009. This also includes 43 ExxonMobil stations in the Phoenix, Arizona market, all of which have been rebranded to Circle K. While many On the Run stations in the United States still sell Exxon or Mobil gasoline, some franchised locations sell other brands not associated with ExxonMobil.

Circle K is an international chain of convenience stores owned by Alimentation Couche Tard. The brand is the flagship international brand of the company, and has largely replaced other brands previously used or acquired by the company.

In March 2010, Couche Tard offered $1.9 billion for control of the Iowa based Casey's General Stores chain, and later announced a proxy fight for control. Casey's rejected Couche Tard's offer and was successful in September 2010 in retaining its board of directors vs. Couche Tard's nominated slate.

On April 18, 2012, it became known that Couche Tard had agreed to buy Norway's Statoil Fuel and Retail (previously owned by Statoil) for $2.8 billion, giving Couche Tard the largest chain of petrol stations in Scandinavia and with a presence around the Baltic region, Poland, and Russia. On June 20, 2012, Statoil Fuel and Retail's shareholders voted in favor (+91.56%) of the acquisition and later it was declared that Couche Tard had finally acquired 100% of Statoil Fuel and Retail for approximately 2.8 billion $US (forcing the minority shareholders to sell their shares). This acquisition added over 2,853 stores to Couche Tard's portfolio and a mega presence in Europe. Alain Bouchard planned to grow this newly acquired chain all over Europe. In 2016, all Statoil stations were rebranded to Circle K.

On March 8, 2016, Couche Tard announced it had agreed to purchase Imperial Oil's Esso retail locations in Ontario (228 locations) and Quebec (50 locations) for $2.8 billion. The stations' convenience stores would be re branded as Circle K in Ontario, and all would remain supplied by Esso.

On August 22, 2016, Couche Tard agreed to buy American company CST Brands and its 2,000 stores, mostly in Texas and other southern states, for $3.78 billion, $4.4 billion including debt. This deal, which was the largest purchase in their history, officially closed on June 28, 2017. Couche Tard has announced that it will sell around 45% of the new stores to another company to pass competition laws. CST Holdings was based in San Antonio and employed over 14,000 people at the 2,000 stores Couche Tard took over. The stores acquired were mostly in the southwestern and southeastern United States, with a small presence in New York and Eastern Canada, operating under the Corner Stores, Flash Foods, and Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes brands. Most locations were rebranded to the Circle K brand after the acquisition. Due to competition concerns, most of CST's Ultramar operations in Canada were not included in the deal, which were sold off separately to Parkland Fuel Corporation.

In November 2023, Alimentation Couche Tard Inc., finalized the acquisition of 112 MAPCO Express Inc. fuel and convenience retail sites from Compañía de Petróleos de Chile S. A. (COPEC), as part of COPEC's divestiture of its MAPCO assets. The stores, located across Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, and Georgia, will undergo rebranding to the Circle K identity. This transaction, which also includes surplus property and a logistics fleet, complements Couche Tard's significant global presence, which encompasses over 14,000 stores in 24 countries and territories and employs approximately 122,000 people. Concurrently, Majors Management LLC acquired 192 MAPCO branded stores and additional MAPCO assets, aiming to enhance service and expand both companies' market reach in the southeastern U. S.

In January 2021, Couche Tard and Carrefour SA announced that they are looking at operational partnerships after takeover talks were abandoned.