February 9, 2011

BIG NEWS OUT WEST! FOR THE HARD DATA YOU NEED, (including DTW, J-DTW, volumes/shares, station details, projected throughputs for brand/ configuration rehabs), your source is Lundberg Survey, Incorporated.

BP IS SELLING HALF OF ARCO
BP’s February 1 announcement, it will divest Arco (but NOT the ampm C-store brand) in the biggest gasoline market in the nation, this year. The sale will include the Arco brand and related assets in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, as well as the plum Carson Refinery.

After several decades of reign, the low-ball of low-ball major brands will be under new Pricing, volumes, shares, and station survival will be revolutionized. What will the new owner or owners inherit in the hotbed Los Angeles market?

If your operation is anywhere in Arco territory, or you’d like it to be, then “Before and After” pictures may be crucial. Key questions include:

• What is the Arco DTW discount under Chevron? What is its retail price spread over Costco? Or Under 76?
• How does Arco’s retail network break down (single franchisees, multi-dealers, open dealers etc.), and where exactly are they? Where are the Tesoro Shells, and how do they price?
• What is J-DTW? Why does it matter to Arco and its competition?
• How do ampm monthly store sales stack up against others?

If your company needs to see the competitive landscape before, during and after this earthshaking sale, then your market data should be:

Relevant, Reliable
Relevant: Without DTW, a valid wholesale price (and margin) study of Arco territory can’t be done. Ditto for J-DTW (prices that jobber-supplied dealers pay), an emerging class of trade more relevant every day as majors retreat from direct retail operations. This daily coverage is exclusive with Lundberg. And without retail prices at Big Box outlets like Costco, Arco’s price personality and behavior can’t be perceived.

Reliable: We know throughputs and retail market share as nobody does. Lundberg collects volume on the street with our specialized field force (certainly not from scrambled, extrapolated fleet card swipes). We have covered Arco markets since before there was an Arco. Lundberg publishes C-store sales, precise address, class-of-trade, source of supply, and dozens of other items at the station level.

Lundberg, the only true independent supplier of such critical statistics, is national in scope and local in relevant, reliable data. Call 805-383-2400.