>> How long before c-store sector dominated by four players?

A few days in Blackpool for the annual conference of the Association of Convenience Stores confirms that the independent retail scene is alive and kicking. After presentations from a number of leading retailers, I came away buoyed by the knowledge that the market is blessed with plenty of operators who know what they are doing, and are doing it very well.
But every one of them remains rightly concerned about the inroads being made by two of the big four into the small store sector. Our story revealing that Sainsbury has recruited another of the convenience sector’s leading lights - Jim McCarthy - to lead its expansion drive in this area will only add to their angst.
Now, one little nugget of information delivered at Blackpool really caught my eye. IGD’s research shows that the supermarket format arrived in the UK in the early 1950s and by 1973 the top four operators had a 14% sector share. By the same token, the first true c-store opened in the early 1980s, and 20 or so years later the top four operators have a 13% share. In supermarkets, consolidation was rapid, and the top four today have almost 50% of the market. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that in the current climate of unprecedented M& A activity, the same level of consolidation will happen in the c-store sector - but at a much faster pace.
Politicians and competition regulators found little reason to interfere in the evolution of the supermarket sector, and I think we have to be pragmatic and accept that they are going to adopt the same laissez-faire line on the revolution underway in c-store retailing.
So how should the independent sector respond to this rapidly changing competitive landscape?
Well, in Blackpool, we heard plenty of ideas from retailers who have been able to differentiate by running the right sort of stores in the right locations, with the right ranges and the right prices. Staff that are well trained, well motivated and well looked after are another vital ingredient to success. But is anything missing? The Co-operative Group’s Martin Beaumont thinks there is: a lack of collaboration. He says those in the independent sector - big and small - must work together to build the sort of scale needed to withstand the likes of Tesco. I can see all sorts of reasons why that won’t happen. But it gives you food for thought. Doesn’t it?
collaborate: it’s a thought