As part of the 2023 C&I Industry Leaders Forum, John Dib, Managing Director, Metro Petroleum, shares news about the continued growth of Metro Petroleum.
C&I: What have been the highlights for Metro over the past 12 months?
Dib: We are always striving to be better than we were last year – it’s not necessarily about being the best. And this was demonstrated through our recent trade day where we had our biggest attendance in terms of both suppliers and our franchisees. Around 90 per cent of our Metro network were in attendance and we had more than 46 companies representing around 96 suppliers – so it was our largest turnout and a massive step up from where we started in a carpark less than 10 years ago.
Another highlight for us is that our Metro field team is growing, and we’ve employed another three people, which is a 30 per cent increase to our team! Our stores and our reputation are both growing, so we’re going in the right direction. The growth in store numbers over the last 12 months has been huge and it’s incredible for the future of the business, that they see that the growth is still there for the long term.
C&I: What will be the focus for Metro for the remainder of the year?
Dib: Our main priority is to continue to create a happier and stronger franchise model where the stores can make more money but they’re also more compliant, and where we have a great relationship with both our franchisees and our suppliers. And that’s what we’ve been building year on year – when we started the Metro Zone, we had a compliance rate of about 35 per cent and now we’re sitting around 77 per cent. So, it’s been a big jump for us over the last eight years and we really want to push that above 80 per cent.
C&I: What does your crystal ball predict for the future of convenience in Australia?
Dib: It’s constantly evolving, and you never know what you’re going to see next. We’ve got Boost Juice in Ampol, there was David Jones in bp, and we have Cold Rock and Mr Whippy in Metro – so things that you never thought would happen are happening today. Maybe we’ll see a hairdresser to make people sit a little bit longer, who knows? The opportunities really are endless and it’s about focusing that on something that is going to entice consumers to a) visit b) spend and c) look at what timeframe they need, because most people are still time poor.
This article originally appeared in the June/July issue of Convenience & Impulse Retailing magazine, which is available online here.
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