Mac's "Convenience Store of the Future" Already an Overwhelming Success

THAMESFORD, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 16, 2013) - It's been open for only five months, but already the gleaming Mac's Convenience Store that the company invested $3-million to build in this picturesque Southwestern Ontario town is attracting customers from as far as 50 kilometres away, and registering impressive sales.

"We're immensely proud of our Thamesford location," says Tom Moher, Vice President of Operations at Mac's Convenience Stores Inc. "It's the convenience store of the future."

Moher would know. He oversees all 547 Mac's stores in Ontario, and each year speaks with hundreds of store owners, and thousands of customers.

"The customers who visit our Thamesford store are especially enthusiastic about the fact they can purchase beer, wine and spirits here," says Moher. "They love the ease and convenience of one-stop shopping - they can gas up the car, pick up their food items, and buy their beer, wine and spirits for the weekend, all in one visit. For today's time-pressed shoppers, it's a big advantage."

The Thamesford location is one of two Mac's "agency" stores in Ontario, which means they're permitted to sell beer, wine and spirits under the province's Liquor Control Act. Mac's has operated an agency store in Craigleith since 2002.

Moher foresees the day when alcoholic products are sold at Mac's stores throughout the province.

"Certainly, the people of Ontario want it," he says. "A recent survey conducted by the Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA), indicates that 67 per cent of Ontarians want to be able to purchase alcohol products at their local convenience store."

Indeed, more than 115,000 Ontarians have signed a "Free Our Beer" petition, accessible at convenience stores throughout the province and online, requesting that the Government of Ontario permit beer, wine and liquor sales at convenience stores throughout the province.

The highly successful "Free Our Beer" campaign (www.freeourbeer.ca), organized by the OCSA, is generating a great deal of attention.

"The people of Ontario are telling their politicians that it's time to modernize alcohol retailing in this province," says Moher. "Mac's is fully supportive of that change; we want to be part of an expanded system that generates additional revenue for the Ontario government. And the benefits go beyond additional revenue - they include the money the government can save by letting the private sector build facilities for the sale of beer, wine and liquor."

Moher emphasizes that Mac's is keen to build convenience stores like Thamesford throughout Ontario.

Currently, the company's CT division operates 665 corporate stores in Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador, which can sell beer.

The company also sells beer at 3,000 stores in the United States, and 1,400 in Europe.

About Mac's Convenience Stores Inc.

Mac's Convenience Stores Inc. is part of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the leader in the Canadian convenience store industry. In North America, Couche-Tard is the second largest independent convenience store operator in terms of number of stores. Couche-Tard currently operates a network of 5,906 convenience stores, 4,128 of which dispense motor fuel, located in 11 large geographic markets, including eight in the United States covering 43 States, and three in Canada covering all 10 provinces. Some 53,000 people are employed throughout Couche-Tard's retail convenience network and executive offices.

Couche-Tard is a publicly-traded Canadian company with annual revenues of more than $15.9-billion. Shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.