DES PLAINES, Ill. -- The mature, tightly packed retail landscape of the Chicago suburbs is not a market known for large, destination convenience stores. It is the realm of mini-marts and smaller, older gas stations and c-stores amid a sea of supermarkets, strip malls, hypermarkets and traditional, standalone fast-feeders.
But don't tell that to Mike Iqbal, president of Golf and Dee Inc. Iqbal came to America in 1979 from Pakistan, finding employment as a computer programmer in Skokie, Ill. After being laid off, he decided to sell candy and gasoline at [image-nocss] a location that a guy ran into the ground, he said, referring to an experienced dealer who wanted to get out of the business.
Iqbal owns two CITGO stations and a Clark station. His newest storea razed-and-rebuilt CITGO station in suburban Des Plaines on a major artery near O'Hare Airportis a 4,800-sq.-ft. facility featuring a spacious c-store, a full Subway restaurant open 24/7, eight gasoline dispensers and a car wash. It opened for business as the International Market & News Caf a in late October 2005.
The old, 1,800-sq.-ft., four-dispenser location was on a 24,000-sq.-ft. site Iqbal acquired in 1993. He was going to build a new store on the exact same property, but he saw the way the market was going, and I said to myself, it's not going to help me to just stay the same size, he told CSP Daily News. He was eventually able to acquire more neighboring property and built a bigger store on a larger site.
The new store also offers Krispy Kreme doughnuts and full-service coffeebranded Bean Boulevardincluding lattes, espresso and other coffee beverages. BP Connect came up with a good coffee, no doubt, said Iqbal. And ExxonMobil came up with pretty decent coffee at their own stations, but a convenience-store name for the coffee is not so good. People don't really go for it. So far, we've been successful with [Bean Boulevard].
Iqbal's International Market & News Caf a also offers smoothies, fresh bakery, pre-made sandwiches, Western Union money transfers, an ATM, prepaid cell phones and accessories, a conveyor tunnel car wash with exterior hand drying by attendants at no extra charge and a business center. The business center currently offers copies and a workspace; by summer, however, Iqbal plans to lease the space to an independent rapid delivery service similar to UPS.
He has reserved space on one wall of his store for in an ice-cream franchise. Currently talking to companies such as Ben & Jerry's and Haagen-Dazs, he expects to have an offering in place before the summer.
This is a melting pot areaPolish, Mexican, Indian, Pakistani, Iqbal said. There is an international market in the strip mall across the street, so he put in some of the same products. At first he was skeptical, but he said the ethnic productsPolish candy and Russian pyramid rolls, for exampleare doing great. The store also carries many foreign-language newspapers, including Polish, Russian and Spanish. He plans to add more such papers in other languages based on demand.
To read more about Mike Iqbal and his unique operation, look for the June issue of CSP Independent magazine.
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