About Us

Hugh Large & Associates Inc. was formed in 1990 to provide experienced, objective, and professional retail marketing and merchandising expertise and services to retailers operating in the Convenience and Gas / Convenience retail channel.

The Convenience retailing channel has continued to exhibit dramatic growth and change, fueled by the rapidly changing competitive landscape and the changing needs of consumers fast-paced lifestyle.

Increasingly, consumers want to save time and to make their busy lives easier with less stress. Consequently, convenience retailing is in high demand in both urban and rural markets. Yet at the same time the mobile consumer with many choices holds little loyalty and has a high degree of expectation in terms of convenience, value, quality, cleanliness and service. As a result, convenience retailing, whether found as a free standing store, associated with a Gas Station, or located in a bus or train station, shopping mall or office building will continue to grow and flourish providing that it effectively fulfills the changing consumer needs.

The challenge for the retailer is to be able to understand how to respond to the changing market and to be able to make money in this high volume / low margin industry.

Since 1990 Hugh Large & Associates has built a solid reputation as a small, low cost and "hands on" independent consulting service. Our clients list has included companies located in all Canadian provinces, the United States and Europe. They include large and small Convenience chains as well as single store independents. Although our prime area of activity has been in Ontario, we have visited and worked with clients from B.C. to Nfld. and as far north as Iqaluit on Baffin Island.

Over the years we have worked with company operated stores, franchise operations, agent / arms length operations and owner operators, bringing to each an objective, experienced perspective with practical solutions that can be effectively implemented at store level.

In addition to our merchandising and marketing services, we have facilitated strategic planning sessions, made numerous presentations to industry forums and at company meetings and contributed to convenience industry publications.

The company also has the expertise to provide valuable services to manufacturers who want to improve their product and service offering to retailers in the Convenience channel.

All of our services are delivered to the highest ethical and professional standards – and are retained in total confidentiality.

We invite you to explore our web site to better understand the wide range of services we offer and then to let us know what your needs are for your business.

You may confidentially get in touch with us via e-mail, or phone at any time. Or, for your convenience, you may use the contact form on this website.

Thank you for taking the time to discover our company. We would welcome the opportunity to work with you.

Visit our Before & After photograph gallery