Drive: Multi-Unit Excellence for C-Store District Managers

Hosted by C-Store Center

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Jun 2026

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This podcast focuses on the skills required to lead multiple convenience store locations and support store managers at scale. Each episode covers multi-unit operations, performance management, leadership development, and execution across a group of stores. District managers must balance results, people, and processes across different locations. Drive breaks down how to identify issues, support managers, improve consistency, and build strong operations across an entire district. If you oversee multiple stores and want to improve performance, accountability, and leadership across your team, this podcast provides clear and practical insights.

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60 recent

June 13, 2026Episode 915 min

RETAIL MERCHANDISING EXECUTION (AUDITING TERRITORY PLANOGRAM COMPLIANCE)

SHOW NOTES (DRIVE VERSION)Episode Title: Retail Merchandising Execution: Auditing Territory Planogram Compliance (Episode 91) Episode Description: "You failed because you allowed your Store Manager to surrender the most valuable physical real estate in the facility to an external vendor, actively destroying your consolidated daily profit." In this episode of Drive, Mike Hernandez explains why District Managers must stop allowing Store Managers to alter retail layouts for vendor convenience and start strictly auditing planogram compliance.What You Will Learn:Mike's Professional Background: Why the corporate planogram is a strict mathematical revenue map that must be protected from external vendor manipulation.The Vendor Priority Conflict: How external delivery drivers actively attempt to acquire prime visual space for their own products, regardless of the store's profit margin.The Printed Verification Protocol: The exact procedure for forcing a Store Manager to physically compare their current retail shelves against the official corporate documentation.The Territory Merchandising Mandate: How to forbid all unauthorized product placement and demand weekly audits of the top ten high-margin items across the district.Resources & Links:Download the Territory Merchandising Compliance Matrix: Text the code word DRIVE91 to 9 5 6 - 8 9 7 - 9 1 9 2.The P&L Podcast: Season One is complete and ready to binge. Search for The P&L Podcast on your favorite platform or Listen Here.Recommended Listen: Arrive: Episode 101.Watch the Channel: Check out the YouTube channel and subscribe at @cStoreCenter.

June 6, 2026Episode 906 min

INVENTORY AVAILABILITY (AUDITING TERRITORY INVENTORY DATA)

SHOW NOTES (DRIVE VERSION)Episode Title: Inventory Availability: Auditing Territory Inventory Data (Episode 90) Episode Description: "You failed because you allowed your Store Manager to blame the external vendor for an internal failure of inventory engineering." In this episode of Drive, Mike Hernandez explains why District Managers must stop accepting verbal excuses for missing products and start physically auditing the digital ordering portals to enforce managerial accountability.What You Will Learn:Mike's Professional Background: Why an empty retail shelf represents a total failure of management, regardless of vendor warehouse conditions.The Deflection Failure: How Store Managers actively hide their failure to review automated orders by falsely claiming the delivery drivers are incompetent.The Digital Verification Protocol: The exact procedure for pulling a Store Manager into the back office and forcing them to physically display the transmission log for a missing barcode.The Invoice Cross-Reference: How to determine if the operational failure occurred during the order transmission phase or the delivery receiving phase.Resources & Links:Download the Territory Zero-Balance Audit Matrix: Text the code word DRIVE90 to 9 5 6 - 8 9 7 - 9 1 9 2.The P&L Podcast: Season One is complete and ready to binge. Search for The P&L Podcast on your favorite platform or Listen Here.Recommended Listen: Arrive: Episode 100.Watch the Channel: Check out the YouTube channel and subscribe at @cStoreCenter.

May 30, 2026Episode 895 min

FOOD SERVICE EXECUTION (AUDITING TERRITORY FOOD COMPLIANCE)

SHOW NOTES (DRIVE VERSION)Episode Title: Food Service Execution: Auditing Territory Food Compliance (Episode 89) Episode Description: "By operating an empty food warmer during a peak consumer period, David actively forced dozens of hungry customers to leave the property and purchase their lunch from a competitor." In this episode of Drive, Mike Hernandez explains why District Managers must stop Store Managers from utilizing empty food warmers to achieve zero waste, and force them to maintain consistent preparation levels to protect territory revenue.What You Will Learn:Mike's Professional Background: Why a lack of operational uniformity across multiple locations permanently destroys the consumer's trust in your food program.The Zero-Waste Failure: How punishing Store Managers for physical food waste actively encourages them to operate empty equipment during peak consumer hours.The Availability Mandate: The exact conversation you must have with a Store Manager to explain that a ten percent waste margin is a mandatory requirement for generating maximum daily revenue.The Territory Data Audit: How to compare physical waste logs against electronic transaction journals to identify which Store Managers are falsifying documentation.Resources & Links:Download the Territory Food Compliance Matrix: Text the code word DRIVE89 to 9 5 6 - 8 9 7 - 9 1 9 2.Recommended Listen: Arrive: Episode 99.Watch the Channel: Check out the YouTube channel and subscribe at @cStoreCenter.

May 23, 2026Episode 885 min

EXTERIOR FACILITY MANAGEMENT (AUDITING THE TERRITORY EXTERIOR)

SHOW NOTES (DRIVE VERSION)Episode Title: Exterior Facility Management: Auditing the Territory Exterior (Episode 88) Episode Description: "Because you allowed your Store Manager to ignore the exterior fuel pumps, your territory is actively losing highly profitable transactions to your local competitors." In this episode of Drive, Mike Hernandez explains why District Managers must stop grading locations based solely on interior cleanliness and start enforcing strict exterior maintenance to protect the territory's daily customer traffic.What You Will Learn:Mike's Professional Background: Why a perfectly organized interior retail space is financially useless if the exterior equipment is actively repelling consumers.The Perimeter Failure: How Store Managers become completely isolated inside the building and ignore the immediate physical frustration of the customers at the fuel pumps.The Physical Correction: The exact procedure for pulling your Store Manager outside and forcing them to experience the exact equipment failures the customers are experiencing.The Supply Chain Audit: Why District Managers must physically inspect the back storage room to verify the location possesses adequate receipt paper and washing fluid.Resources & Links:Download the Territory Exterior Audit Worksheet: Text the code word DRIVE88 to 9 5 6 - 8 9 7 - 9 1 9 2.Recommended Listen: Arrive: Episode 98.Watch the Channel: Check out the YouTube channel and subscribe at @cStoreCenter.

May 16, 2026Episode 875 min

THE OPERATIONAL INSPECTION (CALIBRATING THE TERRITORY BASELINE)

SHOW NOTES (DRIVE VERSION)Episode Title: The Operational Inspection: Calibrating the Territory Baseline (Episode 87) Episode Description: "He walks past the same overflowing trash can every single day, and his brain simply ignores it." In this episode of Drive, Mike Hernandez explains why District Managers must stop relying on self-inspection paperwork and start forcing their Store Managers to walk the exterior property to cure environmental desensitization.What You Will Learn:Mike's Professional Background: How District Managers must force Store Managers to abandon their daily routines and view the facility from a customer's perspective.Environmental Desensitization: Why Store Managers completely lose their ability to see sticky counters and dirty fuel pumps after spending fifty hours a week in the same building.The Calibration Walk: The exact physical procedure required to reset a Store Manager's visual baseline without simply handing them a failing grade.The Routine Mandate: Why you must force your managers to park in different spaces and walk different paths to prevent their brains from ignoring physical hazards.Resources & Links:Download the Territory Visual Calibration Checklist: Text the code word VISUAL to 9 5 6 - 8 9 7 - 9 1 9 2.Recommended Listen: Arrive: Episode 97.Watch the Channel: Check out the YouTube channel and subscribe at @cStoreCenter.

May 9, 2026Episode 865 min

INVENTORY DISCREPANCIES (ENFORCING TERRITORY ACCOUNTABILITY)

SHOW NOTES (DRIVE VERSION)Episode Title: Inventory Discrepancies: Enforcing Territory Accountability (Episode 86) Episode Description: "By allowing his cashiers to continually corrupt the scanning data while he blindly adjusts the computer numbers, Robert is actively destroying your territory's net profit." In this episode of Drive, Mike Hernandez explains why District Managers must stop Store Managers from blindly adjusting computer inventory and force them to investigate the electronic journal to identify cashier scanning errors.What You Will Learn:The P&L Podcast: A special announcement regarding Episode Two of the new financial training series built specifically for store-level leaders.The Adjustment Failure: Why updating the computer numbers without correcting the cashier guarantees the inventory will be inaccurate again tomorrow.The Investigative Mandate: The exact conversation District Managers must have to force their Store Managers to analyze point-of-sale data instead of blaming customer theft.Territory Accountability: How enforcing targeted category audits across multiple locations maximizes your consolidated gross profit margin.Resources & Links:The P&L Podcast: Subscribe for free. The link is available at app.hiro.fm/channel/the-p-l-podcast.Download the Territory Inventory Accountability Worksheet: Text the code word SHRINK to 9 5 6 - 8 9 7 - 9 1 9 2.Recommended Listen: Arrive: Episode 96.Watch the Channel: Check out the YouTube channel and subscribe at @cStoreCenter.

May 1, 2026Episode 855 min

THE OPERATIONAL UPSELL (AUDITING THE TERRITORY STANDARD)

SHOW NOTES (DRIVE VERSION)Episode Title: The Operational Upsell: Auditing the Territory Standard (Episode 85) Episode Description: "Your Store Manager failed to train the staff on situational suggestion, and as a result, your territory is forfeiting thousands of dollars in potential daily revenue." In this episode of Drive, Mike Hernandez explains why District Managers must mandate situational suggestion across all locations to increase the average transaction amount and maximize territory profitability.What You Will Learn:The P&L Podcast: A special announcement regarding the official launch of a new financial training series built specifically for Assistant Managers.The Revenue Multiplier: How adding just fifty cents to every transaction generates massive monthly revenue growth across a multi-unit territory.The Territory Mandate: The exact conversation District Managers must have with their Store Managers to eliminate mechanical scripts on the sales floor.The Metric Verification: How to review your consolidated financial reports to verify that your Store Managers are successfully executing the training protocol.Resources & Links:The P&L Podcast: Subscribe for free at app.hiro.fm/channel/the-p-l-podcast. (Link also available directly in the audio).Download the Territory Upsell Audit Worksheet: Text the code word CONVERT to 9 5 6 - 8 9 7 - 9 1 9 2.Recommended Listen: Arrive: Episode 95.Watch the Channel: Check out the YouTube channel and subscribe at @cStoreCenter.

April 25, 2026Episode 845 min

THE MORNING RUSH COMMAND CENTER (AUDITING THE PREPARATION)

SHOW NOTES (DRIVE VERSION)Episode Title: The Morning Rush Command Center: Auditing the Preparation (Episode 84) Episode Description: "Your territory just lost highly profitable revenue because your Store Manager failed to prepare the physical inventory and deploy the staff." In this episode of Drive, Mike Hernandez explains why District Managers must physically audit their stores during peak morning hours to ensure Store Managers are actively supervising the sales floor instead of processing transactions.What You Will Learn:The P&L Podcast: A special announcement regarding a new financial training resource designed to prepare your Assistant Managers for promotion.The Margin Reality: Why failing to capture morning coffee and hot food sales directly destroys the daily gross profit of your territory.The Performance Correction: The exact conversation you must have with a Store Manager who is trapped behind the register while the store runs out of supplies.The Peak Volume Audit: How to visit your lowest-performing location and force the Store Manager to implement strict PAR levels and labor deployment.Resources & Links:Download the Territory Morning Volume Audit: Text the code word VOLUME to 9 5 6 - 8 9 7 - 9 1 9 2.Recommended Listen: Arrive: Episode 94.Watch the Channel: Check out the YouTube channel and subscribe at @cStoreCenter.

April 18, 2026Episode 835 min

Dr EPISODE 83: Q1 RECAP & THE "ARRIVE" PREVIEW (REVIEWING THE SCOREBOARD)

SHOW NOTES (DRIVE VERSION)Episode Title: Q1 Recap & The "Arrive" Preview: Reviewing the Scoreboard (Episode 83) Episode Description: "Your physical management kept the doors open, but your financial management completely failed the profitability standard." In this episode of Drive, Mike Hernandez explains why District Managers must judge their territory performance based strictly on consolidated financial reports and how to prepare for the mindset of an Independent Owner.What You Will Learn:The Compliance Illusion: Why fully staffed and clean stores do not equal a successful quarter if the financial margins are declining.The Consolidated Reality: How the individual failures of your Store Managers combine to destroy your overall territory Profit and Loss statement.The Arrive Preview: How to prepare for ownership by understanding how operational expenses directly impact total business valuation and cash flow.The Territory Metric Audit: How to identify your least profitable location and implement a mandatory financial recovery plan.Resources & Links:Sponsor: Explore the world of Johnny Mecuerdo at johnnymecuerdo.com.Download the District Data Consolidation Worksheet: Text the code word SCORE to 9 5 6 - 8 9 7 - 9 1 9 2.Recommended Listen: Arrive: Episode 93.Watch the Channel: Check out the YouTube channel and subscribe at @cStoreCenter.

April 11, 2026Episode 824 min

THE "DIVE" GRADUATION (AUDITING RESERVE LEADERSHIP)

SHOW NOTES (DRIVE VERSION)Episode Title: The "Dive" Graduation: Auditing Reserve Leadership (Episode 82) Episode Description: "A store that operates perfectly only when the Store Manager is physically present is an unstable business." In this episode of Drive, Mike Hernandez explains why District Managers must penalize Store Managers who do all the physical work themselves and mandate that they build a roster of fully trained replacement personnel.What You Will Learn:The Operational Liability: Why a Store Manager who works sixty-five hours a week creates a massive risk for the entire territory.The True Test of Leadership: Mike explains why the mental shift from completing tasks to actively teaching others is the ultimate requirement for store stability.The Observation Audit: Exactly what to look for when visiting a store to determine if the Store Manager is actively developing their staff.The Performance Correction: The specific conversation District Managers must have to force Store Managers to delegate their daily responsibilities.Resources & Links:Download the Territory Leadership Roster: Text the code word ROSTER to 9 5 6 - 8 9 7 - 9 1 9 2.Recommended Listen: Arrive: Episode 92.Watch the Channel: Check out the YouTube channel and subscribe at @cStoreCenter.