Prepaid card sales are on the rise, and digital or ‘virtual’ prepaid cards continue to trend. The U.S. prepaid card market grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.6% from 2017-2022, according to Researchandmarket.com’s report “United States Prepaid Card and Digital Wallet Business and Investment Opportunities Databook – Market Size and Forecast, Consumer…

HF Sinclair Corp. was recently established as the new parent holding company of HollyFrontier Corp. and Holly Energy Partners (HEP), which completed their respective acquisitions of Sinclair Oil Corp. and Sinclair Transportation Co. from The Sinclair Cos. Commenced at market open on March 15, 2022, HF Sinclair replaced HollyFrontier as the public company trading on…

Despite a challenging 2020, vape sales have persevered. The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), in conjunction with several other retail associations, has called on the federal agency to release the list so c-stores can be in compliance by pulling the MDO products. At the moment, the FDA cites confidential commercial information concerns as reason…

According to the National Coffee Association USA’s (NCA) fall 2021 National Coffee Data Trends (NCDT) report, out-of-home coffee consumption is up 16% since January 2021, nearly back to pre-pandemic January 2020 levels, said Bill Murray, NCA’s president and CEO. Seventy-one percent of Americans are already visiting coffee shops or plan to in the next month,…

Salty snack demand has rebounded at convenience stores after facing sales dips early in the pandemic when store visits declined. Indeed, total salty snack sales rang in at just over $6 billion, rising by 12.1%, for the convenience store channel during the 52-week period ending Dec. 26, 2021, per IRI.  Within the salty snack category,…

With health becoming a priority for many consumers, added wellness benefits in bottled water and sports drinks will see a growing popularity in 2022. According to research firm Mintel, non-flavored still bottled water sales increased by 8.2% in 2021.  “Basic private-label brands represent the bottled water’s foundation and remain a growing segment of (the) bottled…

C-store technology is rapidly expanding, and nowhere is that more evident than in the realm of electronic payments. “There are several trends that we have seen accelerate over the last year,” said Perry Kramer, managing partner with retail consulting firm Retail Consulting Partners. “One of the largest accelerations we have seen is in the use…

While the pandemic has temporarily disrupted roller grill sales at some c-stores at various points over the past two years, sales for the category are once again rolling along. Ann Golladay, associate director on the content team at Datassential, reported that she anticipates a “moderate growth” in roller grill items through 2022.   “I think…

Consumers who want to wet their whistle on the run will continue to make juices and teas big sellers at c-stores. Increasingly, shoppers are targeting healthy and functional options when reaching for teas and juices. Canned and bottled tea notched sales of nearly $1.6 billion in the convenience channel for the 52 weeks ending Dec.…

Now that cigar supply chain issues have begun to find steadier ground since the early days of the pandemic, c-store tobacco category managers wonder if more inventory reliability will stoke sales. IRI convenience store data shows cigar dollar sales grew moderately, at 3.3% for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 26, 2021. However, year-ago changes in…