Description of location observed The location I chose observe was Quick Trip. I have a good friend that is a manager at the busiest store in the state. I chose Quick Trip due to the experiences that I have had as a customer there. I personally have traveled through many states on road trips and have had encounters with many convenience stores. Quick Trip originated in Oklahoma. I have visited a Quick Trip in Oklahoma and they have carried over their corporate core values into the western region stores also. Quick Trip is a corporate that pays a great deal to attention and appearance. While I was evaluating the store, I found four different locations of the store I wanted to stand while observing in 15 minute increments. This certain Quick Trip has two main traffic locations, the front door and a back door. My first place I observed was the main entrance, the front door that faced the gas pumps. This was a Saturday morning, and being the busiest Quick Trip in the state, you can imagine the traffic flowing thru the door. I then made way over to the west side of the store. This is the location with the fountain drinks, coffee machines and icee machines. The third location I chose was the back door. Even this location had a revolving door with customers. With this angle, you can see the whole store including the gas pumps, registers, soda machines and beer cooler. The final location I chose was the backroom. I wanted to observe the stores way of keeping inventory under control, their way of rotating and stocking the shelves. I wanted to get the “behind the scene” aspect of Quick Trip. After I observed my initial four locations, I ended my hour with a walk around the outside of the convenience store. I wanted to do this to see if the corporate philosophy continued outside the store.

Specific Acts of Attention to Detail or Absence of Attention to Detail My observing experience was just as good of an experience as every time I enter the store as a customer. The friendly staff greats you with a “hello” or “hi” upon entering the store. This is a corporate company policy. This makes you as a customer feel acknowledge right away. The staff welcomes you to the store and wants to do business with you. Without you entering the door, that business could not operate. Hearing this simple word makes a customer feel welcomed into the establishment, not rushed to get you in and out. When observing in my first location by the front door, the first thing I noticed was how clean the windows and doors were. With the traffic flow this store has, it was truly amazing to see minimal if any finger prints on the glass doors. This shows how well they pay attention to how they want their store to look. In this location I was also able to observe how well their floor looked in the high traffic area. Again, the floor was spotless. When you’re a customer in a hurry at stores like these, you tend not to pay close attention to these details. If the store is dirty, then the dirt is more likely to catch your eye than a clean store. You expect the store to be clean and well maintained. In my opinion another important asset to a convenience store is their restroom. If you have ever been to a Quick Trip, you can see that their restrooms receive the same attention to detail as the rest of the store. When I was observing the backroom storage area, their attention to detail was unbelievable. Their way of keeping back stock neatly arranged and assessable was very detailed oriented. Each specific brand and item hand its own location. This allows them or their vendors to keep accurate inventory, which in return keeps their shelves full. Having out of stock items is not acceptable for Quick Trip. Quick Trip takes inventory to the next also. When a vendor is finished with their specific inventory, that vendor then uses Quick Trips computer to transfer their inventory. Quick Trips computers can give you weekly, monthly even yearly sales on each individual item. Quick Trip uses up to date technology to serve their customers as best as they can. And it reflects on the service and atmosphere they provide for you the consumer.
Recommendations
Quick Trip by far is one of the most organized and trained staff in their field of work. After speaking to their manager, I asked them what they did with their food after the expired date. His response was that certain foods, depending on the quality and expiration was thrown away and others were supposed to be donated to the local food banks. I asked him how does he monitor what goes where. He really couldn’t answer the question completely. Yes they do have corporate policy regarding this, but he also is one of three managers who run the store. Different foods expire at different times. My recommendation was to have some way of inventorying what went into the trash and what was donated. Also another recommendation I had for him was rotating and learning how to read Julian dates on products. Not all expiration dates are easily recognized. Being an old beer rep, rotation is key to keeping the freshest product on the shelf. Learning Julian dates can only improve the quality of their products. When comparing Quick Trip to my current employer, there’s no comparison. I work for small company. We tend to fly the seat of our pants. With being in the powder coating business, our quality work can make or break us. Having the correct materials or even machinery is a must. The owners of the business would rather try and get by with what we already have, then to keep pace with our competitors. We spend more money correcting mistakes, then it would be purchasing the correct material. Our inventories on material are disorganized, our way of receiving or giving quotes is unorthodox. We could learn from Quick Trip. We could learn how to serve our customers better. The more satisfied customers you have, you will have a better chance to grow your business.