Couche-Tard to rebrand 1,500 Kangaroo Express stores

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. has announced it will rebrand to ‘Circle K’ the approximately 1,500 Kangaroo Express convenience stores it acquired from The Pantry Inc. this year.

The “facelift” rebranding will begin in January 2016, and will take between six and nine months to complete, according to Brian Hannasch, president and CEO of Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard, who announced the move at a company preview on Tuesday, reported CSP Daily.

“We’ve made no brand harmonization efforts to date, but we have made the decision: We will be using the Circle K brand in the U.S. going forward as our convenience-store brand,” Hannasch said.

Couche-Tard has incorporated The Pantry sites into five different units, and is now concentrating in the price alignment of its c-store network.

“We’re confident we’re going to see certainly increased consumer awareness, which will drive synergies on the top line, as we dramatically grow our market share in the four to five core Pantry states,” he said.

The Couche-Tard North America network includes 7,987 convenience stores, with a total of 6,556 offering fuel services. They are also present in Europe, South America and Asia, with a total portfolio of around 14,900 sites across the world.