Elie Katz, CEO, National Retail Solutions. POS, NRS Digital Media, NRS Pay, NRS Funding, NRS Purple & NRS Petro: Helping retailers succeed.
“We’re open.”
Those two simple words on a convenience store sign can become a powerful beacon of hope during natural disasters in the U.S. Fueled by generators and strategic merchandise distribution, convenience stores nationwide have emerged as unexpected heroes in emergency response planning.
The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) describes convenience stores as the “first line of defense” during disasters—a designation earned through systematic preparation and strategic positioning. There are over 150,000 convenience stores operating nationwide, and many of these businesses form a distributed network of mini-relief centers. Unlike centralized big-box retailers, convenience stores are dispersed throughout communities. The geographical advantage of this distribution can become critical when roads are impassable or fuel is scarce, allowing the neighborhood c-store that serves coffee and snacks daily to transform into a lifeline during emergencies, providing water, batteries and food within walking distance of most residents.
The Economic Implications Of Preparedness
In my experience, retailers who invest in disaster preparedness often experience shorter disruptions and faster recovery, preserving revenue streams and employee livelihoods during critical periods. While initial investments in generators, training and redundant systems require significant capital, the ability to operate during disasters can deliver returns that far exceed these costs. Furthermore, stores that reopen quickly after disasters can capture market share from less-prepared competitors, creating long-term business advantages from short-term crises.
But disaster readiness can deliver significant economic benefits that extend beyond individual stores to the broader community, as well. By maintaining fuel availability for emergency vehicles and support for emergency workers, providing cash access when banking systems fail, and keeping supply chains moving, c-store owners can help reduce the overall economic impact of disasters. This economic continuity is particularly valuable in disadvantaged communities, where residents may lack the resources to evacuate or stockpile supplies before emergencies.
With all of this in mind, let’s take a closer look at how you can prepare your convenience stores and teams to act as essential infrastructure in a disaster.
Preparing Your Stores For Emergencies
One way convenience retailers can set themselves up to perform this service is by investing in permanent generators—a crucial asset during extended power outages. This infrastructure investment can allow you to maintain refrigeration, lighting and payment systems when the electrical grid fails, preserving your ability to serve your communities. During Hurricane Milton, stores equipped with generators became oases of normalcy in otherwise darkened neighborhoods, offering hot food and cold drinks when home cooking was impossible.
Supply chain resilience is another critical preparedness element. Maintain relationships with multiple suppliers and develop contingency routing plans so that when primary supply chains are disrupted, you can quickly pivot to alternative sources, ensuring continuous product availability. This operational flexibility can prove invaluable when traditional distribution centers become inaccessible due to flooding or infrastructure damage.
Creating Your Disaster Preparedness Playbook
Another important step in becoming disaster-ready is following structured disaster response protocols, especially ones that have been refined through multiple emergency events. The Waffle House restaurant chain exemplifies this approach with its renowned “storm playbook”—a business continuity plan so reliable that FEMA uses the “Waffle House Index” to gauge disaster severity. If Waffle House locations close during an emergency, officials know conditions are truly dire. The company’s detailed procedures ensure restaurants can operate even with limited resources, deploying mobile command centers and implementing streamlined menus when electricity or water become unavailable.
Before anticipated disasters like hurricanes or tornado season, implement systematic readiness procedures in your organization. For example, use strategic inventory management to increase your stocks of water, batteries and shelf-stable foods. Fuel storage maximization can help you ensure availability for emergency vehicles and generators. Also, ensure that your equipment receives thorough checks and preventative maintenance, and have your staff undergo comprehensive training on emergency operations protocols.
I also recommend using tiered operational models that adapt to different disruption levels. For example, you can create strategies that plan for full-service operations with backup power, for limited-menu operations when specific resources are unavailable, and for mobile distribution capability when facilities sustain damage. The resulting operational versatility can allow your stores to continue serving their communities through the most challenging circumstances.
Building Community Resilience
Effective disaster preparation should extend beyond physical infrastructure to integrate with broader community emergency planning. Develop formal relationships with emergency management agencies in your area before disasters strike. These partnerships can enable coordinated response efforts with local authorities, priority restocking for essential supplies, and streamlined access for emergency personnel when roads close to general traffic.
Beyond providing products, prepared c-stores often become community hubs during crises. Prepare your stores to offer charging stations for electronic devices when homes lack power, provide Wi-Fi access when communication networks are disrupted, and serve as information distribution points for emergency updates. This expanded community role can transform your convenience stores from mere retailers into critical community infrastructure—unofficial disaster recovery centers that help maintain social cohesion during chaotic times.
Last but certainly not least, staff readiness matters just as much as physical readiness. Create clear safety plans for workers, pay them well during crises, and help those whose homes are damaged. In my experience, workers can only help customers when their needs are met first.
The Bottom Line
For business leaders across industries, the convenience store model demonstrates how systematic disaster preparedness can deliver both community resilience and business sustainability. In the face of regular weather emergencies, well-prepared convenience stores have acted as essential infrastructure that maintains community stability during our most vulnerable moments. Their ability to remain operational when other systems fail provides a blueprint for business resilience in an era of increasing environmental challenges, guiding owners on how to not only protect assets and preserve market position but also demonstrate value beyond everyday transactions.
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