Maybe it’s the unusually trying times we live in that have Americans reaching so often for beverages that bolster their energy levels. Regardless, it’s convenience store owners that are reaping the rewards. Sales of energy drinks in c-stores topped $5.6 billion, up 14.29%, for the 52 weeks ended Dec. 26, 2010, according to SymphonyIRI Group…
Industry Posts Strong Sales Gains
Despite the challenging economy, convenience store retailers enjoyed a solid year of growth in key categories like foodservice, frozen beverages and smokeless tobacco. By John Lofstock, Editor. While sales across all retail remained sluggish for much of 2010, the year ended on a relatively good note for c-store operators. Sales and gross margin contributions from…
Energy Shot Sales Surge
Although some c-store operators admit to being worried about regulators turning their focus to energy shots, many have voiced the opinion that the category has at least another year of strong growth ahead of it. According to numbers from SymphonyIRI Group for the 52 weeks ended Dec. 26, 2010, energy shots saw a whopping 35.58%…
Roller Grills Growing Up
Thanks to a surge of new products focused on ethnic diversity, the roller grill is hotter than ever before. There has been so much emphasis on fresh, made-to-order food and upscale coffee programs in the convenience store industry it’s easy to forget the tried-and-true roller grill. Sometimes implicated as part of the industry’s food-image problem—burned…
Tom Joyce To Lead NACS Supplier Board
Tom Joyce, vice president of customer industry affairs for The Hershey Co., has been named 2010-11 chairman of the NACS Supplier Board. In addition, Scott Hill, vice president of convenience sales, Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, was named chair-elect and will succeed Joyce as 2011-12 chairman. Joyce and Hill were named to their positions during the…
NACS Kicks Off With Opening Session
Engagement, an overriding theme of the NACS Show, was clearly the dominant theme of NACS Chairman Jay Ricker’s Opening General Session address on Oct. 6 at the NACS Show. Ricker encapsulated his past year as chairman with three stories about engagement: with the media, with customers and with elected officials. The first story related to…
Sonja Hubbard to Kick Off AWMA Show
The American Wholesale Marketers Association (AWMA) has announced that Sonja Hubbard, CEO of E‐Z Mart, is scheduled to serve as the Opening Session Speaker during AWMA’s 2011 Show, Feb. 8-10 in Las Vegas. During Sonja’s presentation, Insights & Perspectives on the Future of Convenience Retailing, she plans to provide her views on the challenges, changes…
CVS To Compete For Redbox Customers
Watch out c-stores, CVS is vying for movie rental customers. The drug store chain is rolling out fully-automated Redbox DVD rental kiosks at locations nationwide, including in Puerto Rico and Longs Drug locations in Hawaii. The national rollout, which comes on the heels of a successful pilot program at select CVS/pharmacy locations, is set to…
The Future of Retail Technology
Imagine a day when your customers pay for coffee by scanning a cell phone, and play their favorite music at the gas pump with a quick swipe of a loyalty card. Well, ready or not, such technology is already out there and it’s coming for c-stores—the only question is how soon. As the Millennial generation…
Building Relationships at the National Advisory Group
Throughout my 15 years of covering the convenience store industry, I’ve had the opportunity to meet some amazing people, develop lifelong friendships and watch in awe as otherwise ordinary people learned to work together to produce extraordinary results. Throughout that time I’ve also seen countless people come and go. For some, the industry was a…