CircleK, part of the Couche-Tard group, is a leading global convenience store operator primarily engaged in the retail of fuel and convenience merchandise. The company serves millions of customers daily through a vast network of stores across North America, Europe, and other international markets. Headquartered in Laval, Canada, CircleK’s business model emphasizes convenience retailing, fuel sales, and foodservice offerings.

District Managers play a crucial role in the performance of convenience retailers. They operate between the Store Managers and Regional District Managers to communicate priorities and resolve issues up and down the hierarchy. Often overseeing many individual stores, they are constantly having to think both strategically (e.g. promotional campaigns and talent planning) and tactically (e.g. resolving emergencies). Added to this have been ever-increasing commercial pressures driven by rising costs, changing consumer habits, and innovative competition. In this context, there is a risk District Managers become stressed, isolated and lose the confidence to lead.

For this population, traditional instructor-led training or e-learning would not resonate. Neither would generic leadership development interventions. We needed to recreate the precise realities District Managers faced in their daily roles, and recreate the dilemmas and trade-offs they negotiate all the time. Revenue Rush is a custom-designed simulation that sees participants competing in teams to manage 4 CircleK stores through a series of scenarios and challenges. They must make district-level and store-level decisions, respond to emergencies, and focus relentlessly on optimising their financial and non-financial KPIs. They do not have the time, budget, and information to do everything! All of the KPIs, commercials, and scenarios are based on actual CircleK stores. Through safe reflection, social learning and their own journey of discovery through the experience, District Managers grasp the true drivers of performance and explore the commercial impacts of their decisions. In turn, this builds financial literacy, business acumen – and, crucially, a personal action plan to support prioritisation and high-impact approaches to take back into their roles.

Launched in March 2025, Revenue Rush is being delivered by internal CircleK trainers to hundreds of District Managers across North America. The simulation experience offers participants a unique opportunity to come together and learn from and with each other on how to enhance their impact.

Unsurprisingly, participants rate the training very highly, with NPS averaging over 90. The experience culminates in each individual setting a SMART goal to focus their impact back at work. These goals are communicated up the management hierarchy to ensure accountability and support.

“I found the Revenue Rush game to be very engaging and effective. It really brought strategy to the front of mind and encouraged active thinking about how our decisions impact results. The interactive format made it both fun and practical, keeping everyone focused while reinforcing key business strategies. Overall, I think this was a great tool to drive learning and keep engagement high.

I plan to take the concepts from the Revenue Rush game and apply them while building out my monthly plans. It helped me think more strategically about how to prioritize focus areas, and I’ll use that same approach to guide my team’s execution.”

- Travis Buckland, District Manager, CircleK, September 2025

“At Circle K our District Managers have a vital role in the long-term success of our organization. Their ability to prioritize effectively, make well-rounded decisions and demonstrate strong business acumen are crucial to success in their role.   

To build these capabilities across our entire District Manager population we knew we needed to go beyond traditional training, which is where Profitability came in. They were able to help us develop a custom experiential learning simulation around P&L acumen, financial literacy, and strategic thinking.

Our new simulation – Revenue Rush – has been rolled out across North America and is driving meaningful behavioral change and business results. The feedback we’ve received has been overwhelmingly positive.   

My team and I have thoroughly enjoyed our experience working with Profitability. They’re knowledgeable, accommodating and extremely easy to do business with.

Thank you, Profitability team.”

Mark Houston, Director, Global Leadership Development