Bouchard wants Couche-Tard to focus, like home improvement giant Lowe's, on getting more women in.
One area where Couche-Tard's chains are trying to leap over 7-Eleven is in welcoming fast-food operators with seating to suit.
"Couche-Tard wants to make the store a destination, " says analyst Hayem.
Although most of Couche-Tard's U.S. stores now are ones with gas pumps, Bouchard thinks he learned to be a merchandiser in Canada by not having that crutch.
Currently 6% of Couche-Tard's stores have a Subway, Quiznos, Dunkin' Donuts or the like, where Couche-Tard acts like a typical franchisee (and not like a get-'em-in, get-'em-out convenience store).
Couche-Tard also has created its own coffee chain in the U.S., called Boca Cafe, and is experimenting with a franchised Panchero's Mexican-grill restaurant situated inside a convenience store in Tallahassee.
If Couche-Tard keeps up the pace of acquisitions, says analyst Jessy Hayem of Desjardins Securities in Montreal, it can match--or beat--U.S. 7-Elevens in store count and revenues within five years.
With three partners he began what would become Couche-Tard.
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Its size, meanwhile, is letting Couche-Tard get better supplier deals and set up more distribution centers, either wholly owned or in partnership with a convenience store wholesaler, such as Warren Buffett's McLane in the eastern U.S. The centers give Bouchard the ability to ship dairy products, sandwiches and pastries to stores two to three times a week to outflank the grocery chains.
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