DENVER — Next month most Colorado convenience stores and other food retailers will no longer be able to provide plastic bags to customers. The only exception will be for stores with three or fewer locations, which excludes chains like 7-Eleven.
The total ban on plastic is a result of the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act passed by the legislature in 2021. It took effect in two stages.
This year retailers were allowed to supply plastic bags at customers' request but had to charge them ten cents per bag. In January they no longer will have that option.
Retailers preferred plastic because it was cheaper than paper. They still can offer paper bags for ten cents but the bags must be made of one hundred percent recyclable material.
The law has caused a bookkeeping nightmare. The accounting to the state must be in a separate report from the regular sales tax report.
And while 60 percent of the funds are supposed to go to the governmental entity in the area where it is collected, some haven't claimed it. They were given a year to decide. Meanwhile, that leaves the retailer with the money on the books, accruing interest which is subject to tax.
COLORADO SPRINGS — This city is a hot market for convenience store operators. It sits next to a highway which an estimated 60,000 vehicles travel each day. And the rush to capture that market is frenzied.
The latest entry is Good 2 Go, which jumped onto Maverik's decision to shed three of its stores after acquiring Kum & Go locations. Good 2 Go, an Idaho-based chain, already had 80 stores in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Colorado was a logical next stop for expansion.
The three new stores — two in Colorado Springs, and one in neighboring Fountain — have been converted to the Good 2 Go label. One is right across the street from the former Kum & Go, which may have figured in Maverik's decision to sell them rather than to compete with its own company.
"The purchase of these Maverik stores was a special circumstance and we expect that any future Good 2 Go growth in the Colorado Springs market would come from new Good 2 Go stores," said spokesman Caleb Shiley.
"These are vibrant growing neighborhoods with lots of personality and that fits well with who we are," he said.
Good 2 Go has six more in the Denver area and in Utah and Wyoming.
Maverik's acquisition of Kum & Go doubles its portfolio to 800 locations.
Kum & Go came to Colorado Springs in 2012. Maverik followed in 2017. Kum & Go grew faster, with 86 in the state, including 25 in the Springs. Maverik had only 29 in Colorado, including four here.
After the entry of Kum & Go and Maverik, other chains jumped on the bandwagon including Murphy Express and United Pacific. Quik Trip is planning a store in Monument, a town also in El Paso County. It also plans three in the Springs.
The 7-Eleven chain still dominates the Colorado Springs market, with Circle K and Loaf 'N Jug its closest contenders.
Not only are there more convenience stores, they are larger. From little one-stop locations with a few pumps that existed earlier in the decade, the size now is as much as 5,000 square feet. Some of the new stores have on-site kitchens to prepare the fresh food that is becoming a hot commodity.
DENVER — Along with convenience stores the carwash business is booming in the state, leaving some residents to complain, "How much is too much?"
Governing bodies are beginning to take note of those concerns.
Champion Express Carwash company couldn't convince the City Council in Woodland Park to approve its application for an automatic carwash. The vote was 3-3, with one abstention.
The project, to have been on a site next to the Walmart, would have required a change in the Planned Urban Development agreement.
Water usage, noise, and increased traffic were the main issues.
Some opponents wanted a stipulation that the business's water recycling system always had to be functioning. Councilman Robert Zuluaga said if it wasn't, the wash would use 95 gallons per car, instead of 15.
Mayor Pro Tem Kellie Case voted for approval. She said she had faith in Champion Xpress to protect the town's water because it was in the the business's own interest to do so.
In Colorado Springs, Dennis Dreezen encountered some citizen opposition to his plan to put six auto-washes in the city. He already has 24 in the metro Denver area.
His argument was that he was responding to consumer demand. "A lot of our customers moved to Colorado Springs and want us to come here."
He maintained there is room. "Even with all the carwashes, they can wash only a small percentage of vehicles because of continued growth and so many people owning cars."
Resident Luis Cisneros said the wash would bring more noise and traffic and he feared it would attract a bad clientele with the late hours it planned to be open.
He disputed the need. "I can drive five miles and hit four to five washes, all operated by different companies. We don't need another."
Dreezen offered to open an hour later and close an hour earlier than he wanted to in order to address the concerns.
The Planning Commission approved the project with Commissioner Scott Henke saying he didn't believe there were too many washes and "I'm not sure that government should be in the business of telling business owners how many carwashes they can have.
"Are we going to limit McDonald's and King Soopers? I think the businesses are going to be more prudent in how they recycle water and use it."
DENVER — Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores is opening more RV stops in Walsenburg and at some locations drivers may camp for awhile.
RVers who take advantage of the campsites will get a ten-cent-a-gallon discount on gasoline and diesel fuel.
The many amenities of these sites include a sports court, dog parks, fire pits, grills, Wi-Fi, 30 or 50-amp services and water hook-ups. That is in addition to the regular service of laundry facilities, showers, and bulk propane or propane tank exchange. Most have RV dumps at the site or nearby.
Catering to the hi-tech crowd is a system of reservations, payment, and check-in or out via the customers's devices.
DENVER — The always-innovative Choice Market has established a portable autonomous micro-convenience store here. It rolled out the concept in September at a music festival in Buena Vista, allowing 24-hour access to campers and other festival goers.
Since its beginning in 2017, Choice Market has led the industry in developing new ideas to make life easier for busy consumers. It quickly adopted touchless shopping, which is included in the new store.
In the new portable store, customers pick out what they want and an artificial intelligence computer vision system pairs with advanced shelf sensors to price the goods. The buyers can use either credit or debit cards to pay after reviewing their baskets at the check-out screen. If desired, they can receive a receipt on their phones as they leave.
LONGMONT — It took two years, but a Take 5 lube shop has finally opened here.
First it was obtaining the necessary permits, then the Pizza Hut that had occupied the site had to be torn down before the Take 5 shop could be erected.
Franchisee Kely Meyer, who owns two other locations in Loveland and Arvada, held a grand opening that included pizza to commemorate the experiences people enjoyed at the previous business.
Among the features of the shop is a free bottle of water.
Originally published in the December 2023 issue of the O&A Marketing News.
© KAL Publications Inc. 2023