A comprehensive new study by Meyers Research Center (MRC) finds that convenience store shoppers are seeking cold beverages,friendly employees and know what they want before they get through the door. The findings are part of Meyers' Convenience StoreClose-Up Wave Six, which takes a look at behavior, attitudes and decision-making patterns of c-store shoppers in the…

What do you see as thegreatest opportunity in the convenience retailing businessat present?Convenience. It's what we whatwe sell and what customerswant. People are more pressedfor time than ever so convenience is more important thanever. What an opportunity. What are you doing at E-ZMart to attract female/new shoppers? We have taken down most of thewindow clutter…

While the Noble Committee recognizes the genius of scientists and diplomats, the Internet-based Darwin Awards "honors" peoplewho help out the human species in a different way-—by eliminating themselves (or coming close) from society through naturalselection (i.e., their own stupidity). The tongue-in-cheek award has gained momentum and popularity in recent years, spawning a variety of e-mails…

Mayor appoints new task force to protect stores and owners. Houston officials are uniting to combat crimes against convenience stores. City Mayor Bill White has put together a task forcededicated to reducing these crimes and making stores safer forboth employee and customers. “We’re going to be looking into various crime prevention plansto help c-store owners,”…

Heritage Dairy Stores and Kingsway Learning Center partner to provide a unique learning opportunity for students with disabilities. Thorofare, N.J.-based Heritage Dairy Stores hasstarted a new employee-training program. Instead of training current c-store employees, however, it’s training thec-store employees of the future as part of a new partnershipwith Kingsway Learning Center, a non-profit, non-sectarian special…

Retail hold-ups and robberiesserve as a tent pole on the policeblotter of just about every local newspaper. And while most of these crimes tendto follow a simple formula—thief holds upstore at gun/knifepoint; thief takes moneyand runs; thief (hopefully) gets caught by thepolice—some that are a bit more unorthodox and slip through the cracks. Here’s asmall…

New product trends come and goalmost weekly in the conveniencestore industry, but few trends in the last two decades have had the stayingpower of bottled water. Thanks to new twists on the bottledwater segment, such as the introduction offruit flavors and innovative packaging, bottled water sales continue to post some ofthe strongest sales numbers in…

Enhancing employee image can help operators create a unique niche in the market. After consumers’ positive reactions to its “I’m Lovin’ It” advertising campaign, it was rumored that McDonald’s was in talks with some of the world’s best-known clothing labels&—Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ Sean John line, Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. and Giorgio Armani to name…

Sales to minors are needlessly costing retailers thousands in fines, and some are facing the loss of their tobacco license. State and local governments, under the guise of public safety, are continuing to pursue “sting” operations to identify irresponsible convenience store clerks that are selling tobacco products to minors. While safety, I’m sure, is part…

Jupiter Research claims that 75% of consumers are card-carrying members of one loyalty program or another. It seems like you can’t buy anything now without bumping into anoffer to join some type of consumer loyalty club. Retailers havelong adopted loyalty programs as a method of getting more salesout of their customers. Whether they “live” offline…