Giant Eagle, the Pittsburgh-based supermarket chain, surprised its customers, vendors and competitors when it agreed to sell its GetGo Café + Markets convenience store chain to Alimentation Couche-Tard — parent of Circle K — in August.
The $1.6 billion deal included all 270 GetGo convenience stores across Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana. Both companies estimate closing will occur early next year, GetGo President Terri Micklin said in an interview with C-Store Dive during the 2024 NACS Show.
Although most of its locations offer fuel, GetGo, which has been around since the mid-1980s, centers its business around foodservice. Its QSR-like menu features a variety of wraps, sandwiches, salads and burgers, as well as chicken tenders and wings, burritos and even plant-based protein options. The company has been at the forefront of implementing several c-store foodservice trends and innovations in recent years, from building drive-thrus to selling artisanal coffee.
It’s unclear how long Giant Eagle was shopping GetGo around, but Micklin said there were other suitors besides Couche-Tard. She added that Bill Artman, CEO of Giant Eagle, led those sale discussions and settled on Couche-Tard after the companies had “an immediate connection” and realized their values and cultures were closely aligned.
“It wasn't something that was actively pursued, but the opportunities in front of us to grow the business, to grow the band, to partner with a wonderful company… that really drove that push forward,” Micklin said
Artman and GetGo’s leadership ultimately sealed the deal with Couche-Tard, which wants to take GetGo, a regional c-store operator that “punches above their weight,” to a national — and potentially global – stage, Micklin said.
“If you take the things we do best and you imagine the capabilities and scale to do those and make it a nationwide program, I'm curious to see if we can transform the entire convenience store industry,” she said. “That's the excitement here.”
Food, loyalty and culture
When the deal was announced, Couche-Tard’s leadership said it was drawn to GetGo’s food and loyalty programs. It noted that it plans to continue running GetGo’s popular myPerks rewards platform while also continuing to grow its own Inner Circle loyalty platform, which the Canadian retailer has brought to over half the U.S. in the past year.
Running one loyalty program is a significant challenge for most c-store retailers, let alone operating two of them. Exactly how Couche-Tard plans to balance both platforms remains a mystery, although Micklin added that she’s excited to have a “cross” loyalty program that will help myPerks grow once the acquisition closes.
“All we know at this point is myPerks is going to continue… the details of it are still to come,” Micklin said.
The same goes for both companies' foodservice programs. While it’s excited about what GetGo brings to the table, Couche-Tard has also spent years developing its Fresh Food, Fast program.
As of this summer, Fresh Food, Fast was available in nearly 5,800 Circle K locations globally. Its items include hot sandwiches and burgers, cold deli subs and wraps, pizza, hot snacks, baked goods and roller-grill dogs.
Micklin confirmed that many of GetGo’s popular food offers, such as its SteakTember beef promotion or Thanksgiving-themed Pilgrim sandwich, will remain in place. However, she declined to comment when asked if Couche-Tard plans to bring GetGo’s entire foodservice program into Circle K over the long term.
“I've reinforced that the reason why Couche-Tard came looking at us was really those two calling cards… loyalty and food,” Micklin said. “So I think from a GetGo perspective, we are really excited about showing them what we could do and how those programs could be scaled across their organization, if they chose to do that.”
Regarding GetGo’s employees, Miller of Couche-Tard said in September that Couche-Tard is “looking forward to bringing GetGo’s team members into the family.” Micklin reiterated that message.
“The opportunities to grow and develop and have new career paths is something that should unlock and be really, really exciting for them,” Micklin said of GetGo’s team members. “I think this is going to be something that's transformative for them personally.”
However, it's unclear how executive leadership will be appointed across GetGo and Couche-Tard's corporate structure.
“If you take the things we do best and you imagine the capabilities and scale to do those and make it a nationwide program, I'm curious to see if we can transform the entire convenience store industry."
Terri Micklin
President, GetGo Café + Markets
When asked about GetGo’s staff moving over to Couche-Tard, Micklin said the current plan is for the GetGo team to operate under Couche-Tard, although she and her team are looking at “how do we designate and understand who is really part of the GetGo team and critical to the GetGo programs.”
Micklin, who has been GetGo’s president since April 2023 and was the company’s senior vice president of development and strategy for a year before that after spending 20 years with Wawa, declined to comment when asked if she and GetGo’s leadership team are also set to join Couche-Tard once the deal closes.
No deal until FTC says so
Like any other billion-dollar merger, nothing is guaranteed until the Federal Trade Commission approves it. In the case of GetGo and Couche-Tard joining forces, the combined company remains entirely dependent on FTC and government approval, Micklin said.
Since the deal is still in the approval phase, Micklin said GetGo and Couche-Tard are “running two very independent, separate companies as we work through this,” adding that besides early meetings and conversations, no collaboration has begun.
“The real work really won't happen until the transaction closes and we have the opportunity to work together,” she said.
Until that happens, GetGo’s priorities and business challenges remain the same as they’ve been for years.
“As an industry, we're all facing the same drivers right now: How do we continue to lean into food and really demonstrate our leadership in that space?” she said.
