NACS President and CEO Henry Armour (pictured) has issued a call for co-operation within the convenience retail industry, highlighting the power of the sector when it undertakes collective action. "I have never been more convinced that when we speak as one, our industry is incredibly powerful and effective,” he told a packed house during the NACS Show general session, setting out his vision of future success through advocacy.
The key to the industry's success, Armour remarked, is the scale of its involvement in economic life, with U.S. sales alone of $681 billion, which would rank the convenience store industry as the 19th largest economy in the world, and 160m transactions every single day. “That’s half the population of the United States. Another way of saying that is that if you haven’t been in a convenience store today, you’re going tomorrow.”
“We deliver what our customers want, when they want it and how they want it,” said Armour, adding that the same approach is evident at NACS. The association delivers what members want in advocacy, he remarked, such as with swipe fees roll-your-own tobacco. “You told us that this was a dangerous threat affecting your business. Stores with large-scale manufacturing operations were masquerading as tobacco shops and were stealing 10 percent of your business…Through our grassroots efforts, we levelled that playing field when Congress voted 82 to 16 to pass our legislation,” said Armour.
More importantly, he said, it was important that members and NACS continue to fight credit and debit card swipe fees. Armour pointed to recent successes, including the introduction of legislation that halved average debit fees, but insisted that the fight was not over. "it should be much lower than that,” he said, noting that NACS sued the Federal Reserve to challenge its final rules. “We presented oral arguments in the case last week. We have a strong case and expect a ruling by the end of the year.” Armour also criticised a proposed $7.2 billion antitrust settlement with credit card companies that it, along with many key retailers, have rejected.
The NACS Show is ranked as the 47th largest trade show in the United States and is ranked the top show in the country for attracting attendees responsible for buying plans. More than 22,000 attendees from 60 countries visited the NACS Show, which featured three days of general sessions, 53 educational sessions and 1,200 exhibiting companies in a 380,000-plus net-square-foot expo floor.
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