The Engen Woolworths Foodstop in the small town of Upington in the Northern Cape is defying conventional wisdom with the sort of high growth usually associated with the bigger cities.

Unique
Foodstops are common in affluent urban areas in South Africa’s bigger centres and towns, where high volumes of passing trade justify the investment.

Upington Convenience Centre  dealer, Delinda van den Heever, says the service station’s remoteness makes the store’s success quite unique, but puts it down to its proximity to the N4 route to Namibia.
After ten years, the Quickshop has seen a 30 % marked increase in traffic with the introduction of the Woolworths store. “We are on the main road north, experiencing ‘peak season’ in June/July and again in November/December when holiday makers pass through Upington on their way to Namibia. Our local market is also a big contributer  to our growth as they shop at the store because we are the only shop that has Woolworths quality 24 hours a day,” Delinda says.

“It has been a learning curve to understand the Woolies market but we are happy with the turnover of the store,” she adds.

The highly successful Foodstop format stocks the most popular items sold in Woolworths Food stores, including fresh produce, prepared meals, deli products, take-away meals, fruit juices and drinks, sweets and cakes. Customers can pay by Woolworths card at Engen Quickshop checkouts.

Bearing fruit
General manager of Engen Sales & Marketing, Joe Mahlo, says the Woolies-Engen partnership is starting to bear fruit.
“Our exclusive convenience food partnership with Woolworths remains an extremely innovative concept that challenges received ideas of convenience. Engen will constantly search for new ways to meet the needs of the motorists,” says Mahlo.

Attention to detail
Van den Heever has some words of wisdom for aspiring fuel entrepreuners. “Attention to detail, personal attention and a lot of hard work will see you succeed in the tough petroleum industry,” she says.
Efforts by Engen to put the customer first have been recognised consistently over the last few years. The company retained its ranking as the ‘Coolest Petroleum Brand’ for the third successive year in the Sunday Times Generation Next Youth Survey, which tracks youths’ consumer preferences and behaviour. It also scooped the 2013 Sunday Times ‘Top Brands’ award for the third consecutive year.


For more information please contact Bulelwa Payi, Engen Communications Executive on 021 403 4422 or Email: Bulelwa.Payi@engenoil.com