Laval, Que.-based Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. through its Circle K Stores Inc. unit, is acquiring eight stores in central North Carolina from Accel Marketing LLC, The Wall Street Journal reported. The stores, which operate under the Accel banner, are company-operated and offer proprietary fuel. Once the purchase is complete, the stores will be operate under the…

BP’s ampm convenience store business has landed on Entrepreneur magazine’s 2010 list of Top 10 franchises. The 10th place ranking represents a jump from 2009 when ampm came in 35th on the magazine’s Franchise 500 list. The BP convenience store brand also rose in the magazine’s rankings of fastest-growing franchises. Entrepreneur ranked ampm 14th on…

Wanting to help save the world is admirable, but unless a real cost-savings can be realized convenience store operators seem to agree this economy is not the best time to be experimenting with “green” investments. The key to sustainability issues, then, is finding that balance, and that’s where several c-store chains are differentiating themselves. Scott…

In a gala befitting the industry’s oldest and most prestigious retail award, Convenience Store Decisions and more than 150 industry retailers and suppliers honored Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes as the 2009 Convenience Store Chain of the Year at the Wynn Hotel’s venerable Daniel Boulud restaurant in Las Vegas. Nice N Easy, the Canastota, N.Y.…

From escalating utility costs and credit card fees to labor and looming PCI deadlines, retailers have their hands full with a host of issues that are impacting their businesses. No issue is as complex and timely as PCI compliance. The stakes in the PCI game are high and, as 2010 approaches, c-store operators need to…

QuikTrip Corp.,  the Oklahoma-based convenience retailer, opened for business in 1958 with a single store and second-hand furnishings. Today, the chain is made up of 532 convenience stores across nine states, all of them open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The privately-held, family-owned business has approximately 10,000 employees, who reportedly enjoy their…

Great stores, outstanding service and a commitment to its people helped MAPCO Express garner Chain of the Year honors in 1996. The company has changed quite a bit since then, but the focus on convenience store operations remains stronger than ever. MAPCO Express, as it exists today, was formed with Delek US Holdings’ acquisition of…

7-Eleven Inc., the world’s largest operator, franchisor and licensor of convenience stores, was named Chain of the Year in 2005. The stores got their iconic name in the 1940s because they were open from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m., which was considered extended hours in those days. By the ‘60s, lifestyles were changing, and consumers…

Americans are more amenable to buying meals at convenience stores, but won’t budge when it comes to quality, price or convenience factors like portability and packaging. That means there’s the potential for some real money in home meal replacement (HMR), but it has to be done well, and in just the right locations. Then there’s…

Convenience store operators who don’t know state regulations concerning underground storage tanks (USTs) from a hole in the ground had better learn more about what’s in those holes and what the government is both offering and expecting from them. Federal mandates requiring a significant increase in biofuels production, for example, have spurred an increase in…