A Couche Tard convenience store is shown in Montreal, Friday, Oct. 5, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes.
LAVAL, Que. – The head of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. says lower income consumers feeling strained by economic headwinds are cutting back on how often they visit the chain’s convenience stores.
Brian Hannasch says these customers are also adopting more value-seeking behaviour and in some cases, trading down for products they see as more affordable.
He’s seeing these habits crop up most in the company’s salty, confectionary and grocery categories, which Hannasch says are the softest part of its business.
To handle these trends, Alimentation Couche-Tard has focused on marketing its private-label products, growing its loyalty program and offering Fuel Day promotions.
Hannasch’s remarks come a day after his company reported its net earnings attributable to shareholders were US$623.4 million in its third quarter, down 15.5 per cent from US$737.4 million a year earlier.
The Laval, Que.-based company, which reports in U.S. dollars, says revenues for the quarter ended Feb. 4 totalled US$19.6 billion, down from US$20.1 billion during the same quarter last year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:ATD)
