– We have nearly 400 facilities located all over Poland. We operate in both cities and in our portfolio we have, the so -called Transit stations, i.e. located on the main highways and fast routes. We are also the owner of 76 Express stations from the economic segment, as well as our network operates 135 franchise facilities. So you can say that our portfolio of facilities is very balanced. It is similar with the expansion we implemented. We do not race at the opening of new stations with competition, but we conduct a sustainable development, whose main goal is to quickly achieve profitability by our own and franchise stations – says Sigitas Rail in an interview with Business Insider Polska.
– Poland is an attractive market for us, with great potential and still growing consumption of fuels, in which we want to systematically increase its shares. It should be noted, however, that the last 2-3 years were not easy for local entrepreneurs. Large inflationary pressure, unstable legislative environment and rising operating costs, including From the growing costs of energy, transport or labor costs, caused us to focus our activities very much on increasing the profitability of individual facilities – says our interlocutor.
– In the next several or even several dozen months, we will focus our efforts on this. We plan to do this by investing in remodellets of stores, introducing new products to the gastronomic offer, simplifying and facilitating visits to stations and improving the quality of customer purchasing experiences. The increase in the number of stations is currently not our priority, although we do not rule out opening new locations, especially based on partner agreements – says the head of Circle K Polska.
As our interlocutor emphasizes, stores at stations are very important for the network. – Our range has been prepared so that the station is a place where you can do the most necessary purchases 24 hours a day and we see that our city locations often play such a role. So, on the one hand, our goal is to attract drivers and people on the go to the station, and to the other – our offer is directed to the local community gathered around our fuel stations – says.
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What about chargers for electric cars?
– We don't have many EV chargers on the Polish market yet and we are currently testing the popularity of this service in selected locations and we are working on Backoffice solutions. In our opinion, the Polish market is still too little mature to a wide scale of investments in this technology. According to various data, we have over 25 million cars registered in Poland, while at the end of 2024, there were less than 75,000 among them. electricians. That's about 2 per mille of all vehicles – says our Romzówka.
– The fact that we do not have an extensive charger network in Poland does not mean that we do not invest in this technology. Quite the opposite. In Scandinavia, we are the leader of the charging station segment, but there the vehicle structure is completely different. Importantly, our company has a great ability to quickly transfer know-how and technology between individual markets, also when we decide on expansion in this area, we will be able to quickly gain shares also on the Polish market, using our global experience-adds Sigitas Rila.
The head of Polish Circle K also ensures that the company is investing firmly in … coffee. – The basis of the offer of our Convenience stores at stations are tobacco and alcoholic products, but looking more broadly, apart from these categories, it is definitely worth mentioning drinks, food and coffee. We have been investing in coffee for a long time and this is currently one of our biggest distinguishing features not only on the station market, but also a take -out coffee market. In my opinion, circu coffee matches, and even pierces those offered in popular network cafes, while being cheaper by nearly half – says Sigitas Rila.
– Our goal in this area is the development of the food category and constant investing in product news – our interlocutor also pointed out. Corn dogs, i.e. a type of warm snack based on sausage with radamer cheese in crunchy dough that can be obtained at network stations.
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The manager adds that, of course, the quality of fuel itself is also a priority for him. – This is particularly visible in winter, when the conditions in Poland are difficult and many cars can not start after cold nights. Then we record the greatest increases in fuel sales at our stations – he assures.
Author: Mateusz Madejski, Business Insider Polska journalist
