Convenience Leaders Vision Group, a newly formed think tank for the convenience and mobility industry, held its inaugural virtual session November 1, 2022. This collaborative group of convenience retailing leaders will meet once a quarter to discuss and debate thoughts on market trends and disruptions, which will be shared through a series of trend reports. The first CLVG Trend Report will be released in early December 2022.

Convenience Leaders Vision Group is the second think tank (the first being The Vision Group) under The Vision Group Network, which gathers the best minds in multiple retail segments, including convenience, grocery, foodservice and consumable retail food markets.

Myra Kressner, Eva Strasburger, and Roy Strasburger founded The Vision Group Network in 2020.

The accomplishments of the CLVG members couldn’t be more remarkable, the founders agreed.  Whether they are creating a new retail concept or are an 11th-generation retailer, all of the members have valuable insights and experiences to share. The number of ideas presented during the first meeting, and the level of engagement, was impressive and is exactly what the founders had hoped would happen.

CLVG member Drayton McLane Jr., Chairman of the McLane Group, opened the first meeting with a retrospective of the convenience industry. “I started in the convenience store industry in its infancy, back in the late 1960s. It is amazing how the business has mushroomed, and it is going to continue to do so,” he said. After identifying the first four industry stages: selling milk and ice, expanding the grocery offer, introducing self-service fuel, and establishing foodservice as a mainstay, he noted that the industry is now into the fifth stage of development with challenges and opportunities around technology, alternative fuels, logistics, and the impact of remote working.

“I thought the program went exceptionally well,” McLane commented. “Roy and Eva are both innovators and can help bring about the future of the industry. I have long admired Myra, and with her as a partner, the three of them will make great things happen. Congratulations on this great new endeavor. I am fired up about the Convenience Leaders Vision Group!”

When the first Vision Group began in 2020, the founders immediately saw the benefits to its members of being part of a group of industry experts who learn from each other and use the forum as a sounding board for new ideas and perspectives. To them, it was a natural next step to create the CLVG and to expand its reach even further by sharing what was discussed and learned with all retailers.

CLVG members are not only unafraid of disruption in the industry many in the group seek to create it. The goal of the founders of the group is to collectively learn more by sharing and disperse that learning into the larger convenience retailing community with CLVG Trend Reports.

Convenience Leaders Vision Group Members:

*Founding Member

Convenience Leaders Vision Group brings together convenience retail icons and trailblazers through quarterly virtual meetings. During these private sessions, members identify trends,  challenges and disruptions in retail as well as possible solutions and opportunities.  The group is committed to sharing its views and perspectives in order to advance the convenience retailing and mobility industry. CLVG operates under The Vision Group Network, which gathers the collective knowledge and ideas of its members to create a legacy of sharing within the retail community.

For more information about CLVG and to sign up for future Trend Reports visit https://tvgsolutions.com/clvg/