Last year’s increased net earnings should help keep Alimentation Couche-Tard among the top 100 retailers in the United States even after longtime CEO Alain Bouchard steps down on September 24.

The Laval-based powerhouse earned a net of $812.2 million during their 2014 fiscal year, which ended on April 27. The figure was 41.8% higher than it had been for fiscal year 2013.

We are pleased to close fiscal 2014 with net earnings showing a significant growth for a sixth consecutive year,” said Bouchard, who will be replaced by Brian Hannasch next month. “In July 2013, I said that fiscal 2014 would be a year of execution and achievement in Europe. Today, I am proud to say that we delivered.”

Merchandise and service revenue for Couche-Tard’s American operations were also up during the fiscal year to reach $4,818,900, an increase of $270,300.

The fourth quarter wasn’t quite so rosy. Couche-Tard announced net earnings of $145.1 million, which was $1.3 million less than the previous quarter. The company paid higher dividends of four cents per share last week to appease stockholders.

Even before these results were announced, Couche Tard celebrated position number 82 on the 2014 list of top retailers last month. The annual ranking, which appeared on July 1 in Stores, includes Walmart, Target, Lowes, Safeway and McDonalds. It was compiled by Kantar Retail for the National Retail Federation magazine at https://nrf.com/news/top-100-retailers.

7 Eleven, Couche-Tard’s main competitor in the United States, appeared at number 35, a frustration for the Laval company. Couche-Tard sat at number 25 in 2009, but has appeared in the bottom quarter of the list ever since.

Couche-Tard’s status as the only Canadian company on the list wasn’t evident because it opened an American head office in Tempe, Arizona in 2010. Still, Couche-Tard remains within Laval, something that forced American Hannasch to move to Quebec earlier this year.

April 2, 2014:

Couche-Tard’s longtime CEO and President Steps Down

The Laval-based convenience store powerhouse Couche-Tard announced a major change in management two weeks ago.

Couche-Tard founder Alain Bouchard will be replaced by his current chief operating officer Brian Hannasch. The transition will take place on September 24 during the shareholders’ annual meeting.

Despite the changeover in management, Bouchard, Real Plourde and Richard Fortin still hold the vast majority of the companies’ voting shares. Those voting rights remain in effect until a fourth original founder, Jacques D’Amour, turns 65 in 2021.

Bouchard’s also not going far.

I see this change as an evolution,” said Bouchard when the announcement was made last week. “It will let me invest more of my time in acquisitions and new industry opportunities. I will also take part in the strategic discussions and serve as a mentor and coach to our next generation of leaders.”

Hannasch and Bouchard spoke to reporters about the change in leadership during a conference call last week.

They addressed four major issues: residence, language, government regulation and unions.

Hannasch’s official residence remains in Columbus, Indiana but he has also had an apartment in downtown Montreal since November.  His family will join him in Quebec when he starts his official duties next fall.

Hannasch excused his inability to speak French with a single sentence. “The reality is I am an American and English is my native tongue.”

He does plan to take language lessons, but Bouchard made the point that people in most of the locations where Couche-Tard operates speak English. The company operates 6,221 convenience stores throughout North America in 38 states and ten provinces in Canada. It employs more than 60,000 people.

The two also presented diverse opinions about the new laws the Parti Quebecois plans to give Quebec companies facing hostile take-overs. Hannasch spoke about his reluctance to have private companies controlled by too much government regulation, while Bouchard said he’d appreciate more rights.

Hannasch shares Bouchard’s stance on unions.

“We’re onside on that issue,” he said before Bouchard interrupted him to say that they don’t have any further comment.

The issue is particularly thorny right now. *Couche-Tard and the CSN settled a long-standing court case last October. Their settlement included compensation for 24 workers at two Montreal stores that closed after being unionized.

Today, six outlets in the Montreal area are unionized (St-Liboire at the 145 exit of highway 20; Longueuil, 1400 boul. Édouard, arrondissement St-Hubert; Victoriaville at 260 rue Notre-Dame Ouest; Boisbriand, 1000 Grande-Allée) and two in Montreal (18,401 Antoine-Faucon, Pierrefonds-Roxboro and 6331 Henri-Bourassa, Montréal-Nord).

Couche-Tard and the CSN now take turns communicating how the other treats workers.

*An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to the settled court case.

Note: This article appeared on page 17 of the City edition of the Suburban on April 2, 2014.