The days of gasoline, Cokes and smokes being enough to support a convenience store are long gone. More and more customers are looking to their neighborhood c-stores for quick and easy mealtime solutions to eat on the go or around the family dinner table. As gasoline prices rise and tobacco products become increasingly regulated, retailers…

With so many foodservice programs to choose from, c-store retailers must evaluate which offering is going to resonate best with their customers. A chicken program is one such option that many convenience store retailers find success with. With both a health halo and great versatility, chicken appeals to a wide range of customers. Americans love…

When Americans are craving something crunchy, nothing satisfies like a bag of chips, pretzels or other salty snacks. Even the more health-conscious consumers are finding better-for-you versions of their favorite munchies to suit their tastebuds and lifestyles. Over the past year, total salty snack dollar sales have risen 13% from $7.4 billion to $8.3 billion,…

Early in the pandemic, without on-site consumption of adult beverages at bars and restaurants, many Americans turned to their neighborhood convenience stores for wine, beer, ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails and hard seltzers. At Rutter’s, which operates 82 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, adult beverage sales “reached volumes we certainly never even imagined,” said Sean…

Breakfast has long been the strongest daypart for foodservice at Duchess convenience stores. Now, according to Nathan Arnold, director of marketing for Duchess, which operates 120 units in Ohio and West Virginia, the chain is focusing on the afternoon between-meal daypart with an updating of its cold beverage fountain areas and attention to core food…

Cold vault beverage sales at Nouria Energy’s retail stores are strong in both unit and dollar sales year to date, reported Kevin Platt, senior category manager for the chain’s 150 stores in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Anticipating fewer out-of-stocks than in 2021 and a significant increase in consumers taking to the…

C-stores are succeeding with deli programs with careful attention to customer demands in each market area as they work to attract customers away from the competition. In May, six out of the 11 full-service delis at Clifford Fuel Co.’s Cliff’s Local Market stores in New York broke their all-time sales records, reported Derek Thurston, the…

Improving beer cave sales begins with the basics: make sure customers know you have one. Place signage everywhere they might be thinking about beer. For example, a sign on the cold vault and mobile beer coolers can alert customers that they can “Save in the Cave” by taking advantage of quantity pricing. Window and at-the-pump…

Originally fueled by the closure of bars during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales of ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktails continue to soar in convenience stores even since the bars have reopened. Portability is one asset that makes canned cocktails popular among consumers on the go, whether they take them to a picnic in the…

Convenience store loyalty programs are doing more than just tracking the number of store visits and repeat purchases. C-store retailers are also using the data to personalize the customers’ experience, making for long-term relationships. Since Casey’s convenience stores launched its Casey’s Rewards mobile app loyalty program in January 2020 in its 2,400 stores in 16 states,…