Lost amid the chatter over Alimentation Couche-Tard’s shocking bid to acquire Seven & i Holdings in August is the Canadian retailer’s recent agreement to buy GetGo Café + Markets, the convenience store arm of supermarket chain Giant Eagle.
The $1.6 billion deal — announced the same day as the bid for Seven & i — is far and away Couche-Tard’s biggest acquisition domestically since the start of last year. It includes all 270 GetGo convenience stores, located across Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana. The deal is expected to close in 2025.
At the time of the announcement, Couche-Tard’s leadership said it was drawn to GetGo’s “outstanding” food and loyalty programs with the acquisition, noting that it plans to continue running GetGo’s popular myPerks rewards platform at GetGo stores while also continuing to grow its own Inner Circle loyalty platform.
During its fiscal first-quarter earnings call on Thursday, that message remained steady. Alex Miller — who officially becomes Couche-Tard’s president and CEO on Friday — referred to GetGo as an “innovative, food-first convenience store experience” that will bring expertise in made-to-order foodservice and loyalty to Couche-Tard.
Miller said that GetGo’s foodservice program contributes about 20% of the Pittsburgh-based retailer’s overall merchandise revenue. He noted that GetGo offers the program in 123 of its 170 locations. Its 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 also been at the forefront of adding drive-thrus to its convenience stores in recent years.
“We are really looking forward to bringing GetGo’s team members into the family, learning more about its extremely popular made-to-order food and loyalty programs,” Miller said. “We clearly see some fantastic reverse synergies with this acquisition.”
Couche-Tard’s acquisition of GetGo underscores the company’s broader M&A strategy, which has centered around finding “high quality assets” across food, fuel, merchandise and real estate that generate high sales volumes, Miller said.
“GetGo is a perfect example of what we are targeting inside of M&A and how food plays into that,” Miller said.
It’s unclear if Couche-Tard intends to eventually turn GetGo’s c-stores into Circle K locations. But for now, it appears the Canadian retailer is intent on keeping GetGo’s operations running steadily as it pursues what Miller calls a “forward partnership” between the two companies. That partnership, he said, will see Couche-Tard gain expertise in foodservice and loyalty while GetGo and Giant Eagle benefit from Couche-Tard’s procurement, fuel and merchandising operations.
“This is going to allow [Giant Eagle] to focus on their grocery stores and grow their grocery stores, and we will be their convenience and fuel partner and look to grow our joint loyalty program and do things across warehousing [and] commissary that we think are really unique,” Miller said.
