Michael Salafia Featured on AI Panel at CStore Connections 2026

CStore Decisions covered the second day of CStore Connections in Jacksonville, where STAX Real Estate Managing Partner Michael Salafia took the stage on the show’s opening educational session — AI at Work: Transforming the Future of the Convenience Store. The panel was moderated by CStore Decisions Editor-in-Chief Erin Del Conte and brought together operators responsible for thousands of stores across the country.

Operators at the Table

Michael joined Sorin Hilgen, Group Chief Digital Officer and U.S. CIO at EG America; Mike Wilson, Chief Operating Officer at Cubby’s; and Scott Smith, Director of IT at Parker’s Kitchen. The panel focused on how forward-thinking operators are using AI to improve foodservice execution, streamline labor management, and solve everyday operational challenges that have historically sat outside the reach of technology.

“In the next 24 months, AI will completely reshape back office infrastructure for the convenience and gas industry.” — Michael Salafia

A Broker-Developer With Operator Credentials

What made the invitation notable is the seat Michael occupied on the panel. Most AI conversations at industry events feature either vendors selling a product or enterprise CIOs running large IT organizations. Michael spoke from a different vantage point — a broker and developer who also operates stores.

Through STAX, he advises and transacts on behalf of owner-operators acquiring, developing, and selling net-leased gas stations and convenience stores across Florida’s top MSAs. Through sibling operating company Re-Up, he runs the same stores he helps other buyers acquire. That dual perspective — capital markets on one side, store-level P&L on the other — is a lens most industry discussions don’t capture.

How Re-Up Uses AI on the Ground

Re-Up specializes in the renovation and modernization of second-generation gas station c-stores. The playbook is straightforward: take a well-located but tired asset, upgrade the physical plant, install a modern operating system, and bring the store up to current-generation merchandising, foodservice, and labor standards.

AI sits inside that operating system. It helps Re-Up forecast demand, reduce shrink, optimize labor schedules against traffic patterns, and give store managers a clearer read on what’s actually happening in their four walls. The panel conversation — centered on foodservice, labor, and daily problem-solving — maps directly onto the work Re-Up does every week at the store level.

Free AI Tools for C-Store Operators

As part of the session, Re-Up highlighted its growing library of free AI tools for gas station and convenience store operators, now available at reupfuel.com/ai. The tools are designed for independent operators who want to start experimenting with AI without committing to an enterprise platform or a long implementation cycle. Contributing practical tools back to the operator community has been a core part of how Re-Up approaches the industry.

What This Means for STAX Buyers

For buyers working with STAX, the operator perspective matters. Underwriting an owner-user gas station in a top Florida MSA is not just a cap rate exercise — it’s a judgment about whether the site can be operated profitably through a cycle that now includes EV adoption, foodservice expansion, labor pressure, and AI-enabled efficiency gains. STAX continues to deliver stabilized owner-user gas station opportunities across Florida’s top MSAs, and increasingly those deals are underwritten by the same operator intuition Michael brought to the panel in Jacksonville.

Continued Industry Recognition

Being asked to speak alongside CIOs and COOs from some of the country’s largest c-store platforms reflects how the industry is thinking about AI — not as a future question but as a present-tense operational tool. STAX and Re-Up will continue to contribute to that conversation through speaking engagements, tool releases, and the deals and renovations that turn the conversation into real store-level performance.

The full coverage from CStore Decisions is available here.