Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.

Description

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc is a convenience store operator in Ireland, North America, Scandinavia, Baltics, Russia, and Poland.

The company’s product portfolio includes tobacco-based products, groceries, fresh food, beverages, etc.

In addition to these it operates a chain of quick service restaurants, and provides retail product services, car wash services, road transportation fuel, stationary energy, chemicals, and marine fuel.

Alimentation Couche-Tard also manages stores under K banner in China, Malaysia and Egypt. The company’s operations are categorized geographically into the United States, Canada and Europe. It claims to generate revenue from merchandise and services and road transportation fuel.

The company was founded in 1980, when Alain Bouchard started the first convenience store in Laval, Quebec. The company soon started growing and by 1985, the founder had acquired 11 stores in Quebec under the Couche-Tard banner. The chain of convenience stores kept expanding through the next five years as the network had expanded to 34 stores, all renamed under the brand – Couche-Tard.

The company claims to expand by acquiring related stores and brands. It acquired Métro-Richelieu Inc’s Sept-Jours convenience stores in 1987 and 60 Mac’s/La Maisonnée de Silcorp Limited convenience stores in 1993.

The growing chain of stores were welcomed by customers in Quebec and by 1994, the company had acquired 86 stores of Perrette. By 1995, the convenience store retail company owned 304 stores of which 220 were operated directly by Couche-Tard.

In 1997, the company acquired a subsidiary of Provigo Inc, C-Corp Inc, and added 245 Provi-Soir stores in Quebec and 50 Wink’s in Alberta. Two years later, the food retail acquired Silcorp Ltd.

By the year 2000, the Couche-Tard had reportedly become a leader in Canadian convenience store market. In the early 2000s, the firm got franchise of Dunkin’ Donuts with 104 restaurants. It continued its acquisition strategy and in 2002 acquired 30 stores of Tabatout network in Quebec. In 2009, the company acquired 13 corporate stores from Exploitation Quali-T Inc. The retail food company operates more than 1900 stores in Canada under the brand Couche-Tard and Mac’s.