|
Short Stop Food Marts was founded in the early part of 1971. Vance B. Neal, who visualized the potential growth of the convenience store industry, became its first President on August 1, 1971. Before getting involved with the convenience store business Mr. Neal received his B.A. degree in Business and Accounting from Campbell University in 1963. After graduating, Mr. Neal became an auditor with the North Carolina Department of Revenue. Mr. Neal’s background in accounting, his attention to detail and his insistence on store cleanliness and merchandising, has allowed this company to become well-respected in the convenience store industry. Mr. Neal was the President of the North Carolina Association of Convenience stores in 1983. In 2005 Short Stop was named Retailer of Year by the North Carolina Association of Convenience Stores.
Short Stop is always looking to grow their business and in 1985, Short Stop purchased twenty-three (23) E-Z Shop stores in North Carolina. Short Stop also purchased seven (7) Exxon locations in Cumberland County in 2004. Currently there are 52 Short Stop locations in eastern North Carolina. We maintain an employee base of 320 employees at all times.
The present management of Short Stop consists of:
Chris Neal - President and CEO
Mary Neal Morketter - Vice President
LaJuana Dunn – Pricing Coordinator
Denise Hughes – District Supervisor
April DeHart – District Supervisor
Robby McGill – District Supervisor
Lori Garrity – District Supervisor
Sandra Faircloth - District Supervisor
In 2011, Vance Neal fully retired from the company that he helped create. His vision and goals are instilled in Chris and Mary. Chris Neal, who is the President and CEO, has been with the company 24 years and received his degree in Business Administration from Campbell University in 1989. In 2010, Chris was elected President of the North Carolina Petroleum and Convenience Marketers Association (NCPCM) and now currently serves on its Board of Directors. Mary Neal Morketter is the company Vice President. After graduating from Fayetteville State University with a degree in Business Administration she came to work in the family business. She has been with Short Stop 17 years. In 2011, she also served on a committee of the North Carolina Petroleum & Convenience Marketers. Both Chris and Mary have been on the board of the local chapter of the American Red Cross.
Short Stop is also known for giving back to the community that helps support them. Short Stop has an annual Charity Golf Tournament in March that raises money for the local chapter of the American Red Cross. We have had this tournament for 5 years and we have raised over $100,000 for the local chapter. In 2003 Short Stop was one of the major sponsors of the Football Jamboree and participated with that program for 5 years. Short Stop has given over $75,000 to participating schools in order to supplement their athletic budgets that they receive every year. Another fund raiser that the employees of Short Stop really take a part in is raising money for MDA. Short Stop has partnered with them over 6 years and at store level has raised over $75,000 for that organization. In 2011, Short Stop partnered with Support US Armed Forces. This was the first time partnering with them. Our employees, with the help of our valued customers, raised over $13,000.
More recently, Short Stop has moved into the 21st century. We have moved some of our branded gasoline locations to our own Short Stop brand of gasoline. At the same time, we have updated our logo to reflect our move towards the future. We have taken a hard look at what we need to do at store level to continue to grow our business. By the end of 2010 all 53 of our locations were using our in store scanning and back office software from DataMax. Short Stop has also partnered with Gilbarco implementing the Passport POS registers in most of our locations.
|
