BP Connect
BP Connect is brand name for corporate owned stores belonging to BP, as opposed to jobber owned stores. BP Connect locations combine a convenience store with a "Wild Bean Cafe", and most are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
United Kingdom
The first BP Connects were opened in the UK in 2000, the first being a "new-build" in Raunds, Northamptonshire, and a raze-rebuild at Hammersmith Flyover, both of which are now Simply Food Connect stores, a joint-venture between BP and Marks & Spencer Simply Food. Over the past six years the Connect brand has been rolled out to a large proportion of the BP network, at first to larger stores only. More recently, the Small Format Connect design has been perfected, with a slightly more limited range than a standard-sized store, but still offering the essentials such as a Wild Bean Cafe, off-license, and at many sites LPG, car wash and jet wash facilities. Many BP Connect sites are open 24 hours a day.
Many stores are currently being converted to the Simply Food Connect format, including all of BP's GCS (Grocery Convenience Stores) which were formerly BP Safeway sites.
USA
Operated by BP, the innovative BP Connect stores were first opened in the Orlando and Atlanta regions in 2001. Featuring the trademark "Wild Bean Cafe", the BP Connects sport a sleek design and suntiles on the top of the gas station. In addition, the BP Connects are also known for having a kiosk offering internet connection, and also Amoco Ultimate gasoline.
As of 2007, the BP Connect gas station chain in the United States carries the slogan "A Little Better Gas Station". The song in the commercials is LA (by the Indie rock band Message of the Blues). The song is featured in several TV and radio ads.
As of May 2008 all BP Connect stores in the United States were converted to ampm, the convenience store brand that BP inherited from its acquisition of ARCO.
Worldwide
The BP Connect and Ultimate brands have also been rolled out across a number of other countries including Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and others. See the WBC website.
External links
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