The looming menthol ban has been hanging over our heads for many years now, but as it becomes closer to a reality many retailers have shared their anxiety over what the future of the cigarette category will look like. The worries over the ban certainly impact some retailers more than others, and there’s a direct…

If you’re like most folks in the convenience store business, you browse through a variety of publications each month and spend some time reading articles that are interesting to whatever your role in this dynamic retail segment might be. Usually, there’s some articles regarding government regulation, trade shows, segment results and other relevant pieces of…

The tobacco industry may have had the most tumultuous year any of us can remember in 2019. The industry saw nearly double-digit declines in cigarette volume that was truly a bell ringer for everyone, including the manufacturers. For the first time ever, as far as I can tell, Big Tobacco raised prices three times in…

CBD is everywhere, or so it would seem to both casual observers and industry insiders. With the passage of the Federal Farm Bill in 2018, which included the legalization of industrial hemp, on a federal level, CBD products became legal to source and sell in the U.S. Manufacturers, distributors and retailers have been rushing to…

The 2019 Tobacco Plus Expo, or TPE Show as it’s referred to, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center in February, represents the last true tobacco show in the U.S. While attendance seemed strong from both the retail and distributor communities, finding actual tobacco products seemed like more of a challenge than one might imagine…