Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. history, profile and history video
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is a Canadian multinational operator of convenience stores headquartered in Laval, Quebec, Canada. It started its operations in 1980 with the opening of the first convenience store located in Laval, Québec, and it was founded by Alain Bouchard, Jacques D’Amours, Richard Fortin, and Réal Plourde.
After five years of operation, it was acquired 11 “Couche-Tard” branded stores in the Quebec City area which he merged with its existing stores in Montreal which are all rebranded under the “Alimentation Couche-Tard” name. At that time, the network already had 34 stores, including 31 franchises.
The company has now come to operate through the following segments: Canada, the United States, Europe, and International.
Canada
The businesses operate primarily under the Couche-Tard®, Circle K® and Mac’s® brands.
United States
The stores are primarily operated under the Corner Store®, Circle K® and Holiday® brands.
Europe
The full-service stations are operated mainly under the Circle K® brand, and on the island of Ireland following the launch of a rebranding process from former Statoil® branding. The automated sites operate under the INGO® brand in Sweden and Denmark. The Company is also a wholesaler of transportation fuel and runs a large commercial fuels operation, including terminals and depots.
International
Under licensing agreements, stores are operated under the Circle K® banner in 15 other countries and territories (Cambodia, Egypt, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jamaica, Macau, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam).
The company also operates its corporate stores under the affiliated brands 7-jours, Dairy Mart, Daisy Mart and Winks.
With more than 109 000 employees, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. has more than 14 000 stores worldwide, and it is considered one of the biggest companies in the Canadian convenience store industry. In the U.S., it is considered one of the largest independent convenience store operators in terms of the number of company-operated stores, and it is also considered a leader in convenience store and road transportation fuel retail, in Europe. According to Forbes, it is considered one of the top 2000 largest public companies in the world.
*Information from Forbes.com, Wikipedia.org, and ”corpo.couche-tard.com/en”.
**Video published on YouTube by “Horatio Alger Association“.