TICON - Traffic Information Consolidator

How swag fuels Buc-ee’s gas station empire “In the vast expanse of the American highway, a beacon of?Buc-ee's?bright orange roof cuts through the monotony. But Buc-ee's is more than just a gas station; it's a cultural phenomenon. Sure, they offer clean restrooms, plentiful gas pumps, and a mind-boggling selection of snacks, but what truly sets Buc-ee's apart is its mastery of swag. Yes, swag—the seemingly frivolous merchandise, the t-shirts, hats and koozies—has become an unexpected cornerstone of Buc-ee's success. It's a testament to the power of public narrative and how a brand can leverage it to create a loyal following... To continue reading, click on a link below: https://lnkd.in/gQ2uTuFf

Dinner And a Movie Takes a Whole New Meaning You know Netflix: you log in and stream a movie or a show. They provide entertainment. You provide your own food. Right? Well, not anymore, it’s not. Now, at least if you are in Las Vegas, you can watch Netflix and eat Netflix. Netflix Bites, that is.Netflix Bites is a new restaurant that opened at the?MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Described as a one-year culinary residency, the restaurant offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner — with each menu item inspired by a hit Netflix show or movie... to continue reading this post, click on the link below: ?https://lnkd.in/gSnTEFPP

Is US Retail Getting Great Again, Or Are You Happy To See Me? It’s only mid-February, but already we hear from?every source?that retailers and restaurants are into store expansions, in a big way. And that’s just the beginning, the best is yet to come. One does not need to have a crystal ball to figure out why Walmart just made a decision to make a “landmark investment” in Canada, to the tune of $4.5 billion, which includes building dozens of new stores, beginning with five locations in Ontario and Alberta. But look at all the other news: Sprouts will expand in Florida, with seven new stores to cater to all these fresh and green stuff lovers that moved to FL from the opposite shore. To continue reading this post, click on a link below: https://lnkd.in/esQUTXfN

Everything Grows Best In The South, Even Franchises The International Franchise Association recently published its annual?Franchising Economic Outlook, which for 2025 expects growth of 6.2% in the Southeast and 8.5% in the Southwest, fueled by the regions’ business-friendly policies and lower cost of living. We were happy to note that?Georgia?is projected to be the leading state for franchising growth in 2025. Some interesting facts include the pace of franchise growth faster than the US economy, and bringing additional 210,000 jobs. Another important fact is that retail food products and services – think QSR – are going to grow even faster, at 3.5%. That’s good news for all of us in the business. But these are the averages.?- to continue reading, click on a link below. https://lnkd.in/eRB8ysnK

The Lone Star State Gets Three More Donatos Yep. We get it. Texas is big. It likes to get most of all the good stuff. And now it’s getting more of the?Donatos Pizza?restaurants – three this year, and up to 100 total sometime soon. Meanwhile, here in Georgia, we have to somehow manage with only three Donatos restaurants for the whole Peach State, with two in Atlanta, where we could use another dozen, at the very least. But whining never helps. And maybe it’s Georgia’s fault – having the?state motto?that includes the word “Moderation” definitely is not inductive to expanding the pizza chain. And when a restaurant chain – or any retailer, for that matter – is planning its expansion, everything gets into consideration. No facts are too small, no details – too miniscule. The experienced players know that demographics data is the key. This is called “KYC” – Know Your Customer.?To continue reading, click on a link below: https://lnkd.in/eWENFzeD

Astute observation - saying as a boomer.

When The Going Gets Tough Sometimes, when the going gets tough, the tough – or rather, closely involved – pretend that everything is peachy. It can be seen, for example, in the response of the EV adherents to the politico-economic changes that bring about the repositioning of the industry – no, several industries – away from staunch support of the “green transportation of the future”. Take, for example,?the article?recently published in our favorite online publication,?CStore Decisions. Apparently, the cancellation of the green mandate, the discontinuation of EV tax credits, and the end of putting billions of dollars into construction of 5 EV chargers (4 of which are broken), mean nothing. No, the article says, we don’t have to worry about a thing. “EV buyers will be fine without government help”. Of course, anything usually works better without government help. But artificially created support for an unpopular technology is not one of these cases. If anything, it’s a basket case. To continue reading, click on a link below: ?https://lnkd.in/exDymPFv

When Only The Best Will Suffice We hear about the renaissance of the shopping malls a lot lately. In another new bit, mall owner Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) has entered into an agreement to purchase a development site in metro Nashville with plans to build a?luxury shopping and lifestyle destination?known as Nashville Premium Outlets. Preliminary plans call for 75 retailers, restaurants and a hotel, with the potential to add residential options and big box retailers. This is a confirmation of the new, but maturing trend to provide upscale shopping options for areas that, in the opinion of developers, don’t have enough of high-end retail establishments. Of course, we see it as good news. Surely, the developers researched socioeconomic indicators and performed the demographic analysis of the trade area for the planned mall. They did it, right? We are as optimistic as the rest of the bunch about the?economic prosperity in America, but doing one’s homework is important when you put so much money in one place. One can only hope that the data they used came from a reliable source, and that it was reflective of the true state of the locality’s disposable income trends. To continure reading click here: ?https://lnkd.in/etFcj8mY

Iconic Consumer Brands Provide a Lesson To Commercial Real Estate In a recent LinkedIn post, Rod Santomassimo, a?CRE Broker coach, makes an interesting observation?that “…over the past 50+ years, Pepsi's cumulative return has far outpaced Coca-Cola's—not because Pepsi had a better brand (both are iconic!) but because they focused on building a stronger business foundation.” He then projects this observation on commercial real estate brokers, who spend too much time on “social media fame” and not enough on building a strong, scalable business model, i.e., investing in the business foundation. Today it means, even more than ever before, having accurate, current, location-focused data to build on. To continue reading, click here: https://lnkd.in/eT7f8aee

A Ban To End All Bans An effort to ban future generations from buying tobacco products in Massachusetts gets powerful pushback from the advocacy group in the aftermath of revocation of the infamous Menthol Prohibition. Citizens for Adult Choice, a grassroots organization fighting to protect individual rights, has officially launched a campaign opposing a proposed law that would permanently ban anyone born after a certain date from purchasing nicotine products. The group kicked things off with a rally in Boston on January 22, rallying support against government overreach. State lawmakers are looking to implement a statewide bill that would ban anyone born on or after January 1, 2006, from ever purchasing nicotine products, including cigars, chewing tobacco, and nicotine pouches. To continue reading, click here: https://lnkd.in/eD5gVhxq