McEvoy makes a difference
Runs convenience stores her way
by Christopher Key

You may think if you’ve seen one convenience store, you’ve seen them all. Not true for the stores run by Ann McEvoy for her family’s oil company. Not only are the stores clean and tidy from stem to stern, but the employees understand and provide customer service. That’s the way McEvoy wants it and she knows how to make it happen.
Her generation of the McEvoy family includes Ann and three brothers. She learned to assert herself early. She also wanted nothing to do with the family business, at first. She started with an associate’s degree in marketing from Bellevue Community College, intending to be a clothing buyer. That led her to Nordstrom, where she worked her way into management and spent four years as a manager of men’s sportswear. Then, she managed a Guess? store in Bellevue and opened the one at Southcenter.
“Guess? was a good learning environment,” McEvoy said. “I was there during the time they went from small to big. I became the turnaround person for them, a very intense job. It was the best preparation imaginable for what I’m doing now.”
She was recruited by Club Monaco, a Canadian firm, to open their first U. S. store at the Pacific Place complex in Seattle.
“The company placed a lot of emphasis on image,” McEvoy said. “They not only expected you to wear their clothes, but told you how to wear them. I felt like I wasn’t in tune with their core values.”
Coldwater Creek recruited McEvoy to open their famous store built on a bridge in Sand Point, Idaho.
“They needed to get beyond their small town image,” she said. “I supervised 90 employees at the store and restaurant. I never felt like I quite fit in in Idaho.”
She came back to Bellingham for her parents’ wedding anniversary and began to realize there were other things in life more important than climbing the corporate ladder. A position came open at the family business.
“Our family has owned the business since 1932,” McEvoy said. “We are now a bit more corporate than Mom and Pop. We started with three convenience stores and now have eight. I knew it would take a lot to expand.”
It all starts with staffing.
“I thought we could get great people to work in a convenience store,” McEvoy said. “They have to be more than just glorified cashiers. I wanted us to be the Nordstrom of convenience stores.”
That required a complete change in mindset to a totally customer service oriented operation.
“It’s hard to get good people, but I do it all,” McEvoy said. “It’s that important to me. Our turnover rate is amazingly low.”
Seeing things others don’t is one of her strong points.
“In most convenience stores, if you’re alive you can work there,” McEvoy said. “We have different standards. About 20 percent of the people in the labor pool really want to work. I’m old school. I set the rules and the tone in the interview.”
Employment in the company stores fluctuates from 75 to 95.
“There is a consistent message throughout our stores,” McEvoy said. “I work in them from time to time to get customer feedback. It’s a challenge to meet customer needs, but people now recognize us as a McEvoy store.”
Store managers are held accountable.
“That’s how I was trained,” she said. “Managers have a sense of ownership in their stores and the desire to do the best for the company.”
Employees are given as much flexibility as possible.
“They start at minimum wage,” McEvoy said. “There’s a review after 90 days to see if they fit and if they’re working out, they get a raise. Pretty soon, they’re part of the family.”
Her commitment to customer service is such that she posts her name and number in each store.
“There’s a fine line between giving store managers freedom and maintaining standards,” McEvoy said. “We try to individualize the stores to the neighborhood they are in. Staffing and merchandising has to be correct for each store.”
Running a chain of convenience stores is relatively new territory for a woman.
“There’s always some who relate to me differently because I’m a woman,” McEvoy said. “I have to earn their respect. I’m always going to get that. I guess I’m more like a guy in the sense that I’m no nonsense, strictly business. I haven’t had any problems here, but when I go to Shell conventions, I’m pretty much alone. There are very few women in this business. Most of the conventioneers think I’m somebody’s wife. They soon find out what I’m doing.”
McEvoy makes sure her customers know how grateful the family is for their support.
“Our biggest event is the Angel Tree charity,” she said. “Each store has a tree with angels that makes it easy for people to donate. Last year, we collected 750 gifts. Then all the store managers get together and wrap the gifts. It’s part of our responsibility to the community.”
She always remembers that people don’t have to come to her stores.
“I feel like I’ve gained a sense of purpose with the family business,” McEvoy said. “I feel like I make big contributions.”
And she’s turned convenience stores into a whole new experience for customers.