By Jon Scharingson, Renewable Energy Group Inc. Why is interest in biodiesel growing among convenience store operators? In past blog posts for CSD, I’ve touched on some of the reasons, including its performance benefits, its lower emissions and the increasing number of diesel-powered vehicles. But let’s be honest. If biodiesel didn’t make economic sense, c-store…
Sheetz Earns 2017 Chain of the Year Honors
With an unsurpassed commitment to foodservice and technology, a world-class distribution model and a total commitment to its vast employee base, Sheetz Inc. embodies the very best the convenience store industry has to offer. Over the past year, the 550-store chain was recognized by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For,…
A Red, White and Blue Tradition
Fourth of July may be in the books, but there’s always an opportunity to display the flag. By Jim Callahan During a recent holiday, I placed two very small American flags in a lone planter on my front porch. After lunch, I headed out on a short shopping expedition. Passing many neighbors and many businesses,…
When Counting the Human Cost
In the middle of June, I traveled to central New York. I hadn’t been back since I relocated to Naples, Fla. more than a year ago. There were a number of reasons for the visit, most of them prosaic, but what was very much center of mind for me was checking on the feelings of…
Employee Recruiting: Are All Your Doors Open?
by Mel Kleiman, founder of Humetrics With unemployment at record lows, making your jobs easy to apply for has never been more important. When jobseekers have their choice of employers, most will take the path of least resistance. If you don’t have all of the “doors” that could gain entrance to your hiring system open,…
Why They Don’t Show Up for the Interview
by Mel Kleiman, founder, Humetrics Below is the telephone pre-screen list one of my clients uses for frontline, hourly employees. Now, if you were the applicant and someone called you, asked you all those questions, and then invited you to come in for a personal interview, how would you figure out if it would…
May-June 2017 Comparisons
Top seven items continue their reign for second month. By Bill Scott I was somewhat shocked when I first loaded the results from my research for May and June. Looking at the table, I first thought I had mistakenly loaded the same file from May to accumulate the June figures, as there were no changes…
Retail is Changing Faster Than the Speed of Thought
By Bill Scott IT’S A FACT! Everyone does not need a university degree. In fact, pushing our kids into colleges could be a huge mistake. Not only that. In some cases, higher education can backfire on you. Sometimes I think education focuses too much on the past, and the past doesn’t last as long as…
I HAVE A PLAN!
By Bill Scott “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go first and then seek to win.” – Sun Tzu – The Art of War MY PLAN may not be as good as your plan. But at the least, it IS a plan. A plan established after four decades of…
NAG to Honor Friend, Mentor Bill Kent
Building relationships is a fundamental principle for succeeding in business. The convenience store industry is certainly no exception. Trust, appreciation, compassion and shared experiences are the backbone of countless industry friendships that span decades and, in some cases, generations of family leadership. These relationships are extremely important to the National Advisory Group (NAG) and our…