London's BP Betting $100 Mil Central Florida Retail Expansion Will Pay Off

The new stores are called BP Connect, an updated version of the company's conventional retail outlets. The Central Florida expansion is expected to be the pilot for the company's growth throughout the Southeast.

The 26 new stores, at an estimated 10,000 sf each, will bring BP's total Central Florida BP Connect outlets to 40 covering about 400,000 sf. The new locations are still being determined. The first BP Connect stores opened in May 2001.

In a prepared statement, the British company says it plans to have 200 convenience store/retail fuel sites and a staff of 1,000 under the BP flag in metro Orlando by 2004. That number includes existing BP and Amoco convenience stores which merged with BP in 1999.

The company acknowledges it is fifth in convenience store market share and third in fuel sales in metro Orlando. BP is aiming to overtake market leader 7-Eleven Inc. and its fuel partner, Citgo. BP anticipates it will be ranked second in food and fuels at the end of 2003. Nationally, BP is third behind Shell-Texaco stores and 7-Eleven.

The company didn't disclose quarterly or annual sales growth figures. However, BP anticipates newly installed store amenities such as free printed travel maps, weather updates and traffic reports from online Web services will generate a new breed of customer that will generate increased sales.

"We call this innovative mobility," Jack Niekamp, vice president/retail marketing, BP Products North America, says in a prepared statement. "It's all about meeting the needs of the busy consumer with time-saving convenience, exceptional food and beverages, cleaner (vehicle) fuels and 'e' solutions."

Even as BP prepares to gain market share in Central Florida, the company and its competitors now face new challenges from national grocery store and drugstore chains which are getting into the food and fuel business themselves.

BP is the global corporate brand formed by the combination of the former British Petroleum, Amoco Corp., Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) and Burmah Castrol.