On a recent edition of the “At Your Convenience” podcast, experts discuss how THC beverages are proving to be a strong performer in convenience stores, with GPM Investments doubling sales after adding dedicated coolers in April. Shane Mabry of GPM, which operates 1,100+ stores across 27 states, says the retailer started cautiously in three states two years ago before expanding to 210 stores with 42 SKUs.<br>Koby Licciardo of Nowadays notes that c-stores drive critical trial through cold singles, leading to repeat purchases. The consumer base is surprisingly diverse across age and gender, defying initial expectations. Even premium 750ml bottles at $55 are selling well, signaling category maturity as brands and retailers refine merchandising strategies, he says.

THC beverages double sales in convenience stores as category gains momentum

At Your Convenience

Welcome to At Your Convenience. I'm Melissa Vonderhaar, the chair of the CSP C-Store Cannabis Forum. So today we're here to talk about THC beverages with two of our board members. Please join me in welcoming Shane Mabry of GPM Investments and Kobe Liccardo of Nowadays, two of our founding board members.

So to kick things off, both of you, thank you for joining me today. Shane, GPM has over 1,100 stores across 27 states and you have been in the THC beverage space for just about a year now. Can you talk about the decision-making process to launch, expand, grow this category in your stores?

Yeah, so I started the process, it's probably been about two, two and a half years. With our board and a lot being from overseas and on visas, we're kind of cautious on what we can and can't do.

So we took a slow approach. We started with three states, just doing out of suction racks to kind of get a feel on how things would go, what the volume was going to be. And very quickly we saw that we needed to get into the game. So we found some partners that we could partner up with to finally put coolers in, which we just started this April.

And just in doing that and those stores, we doubled our sales volume just by having their assortment and then the different varieties that people are looking for. We are still as a company, I'm limited to making sure that I stay with vendors that we currently use. So we're only using alcohol vendors.

THC beverages double sales in convenience stores as category gains momentum

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

THC beverages double sales in convenience stores as category gains momentum

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.