Just two years after the devastating tomato outbreak at Sheetz, other retailers have benefited from the hard lesson. Any convenience retailer heavily invested in foodservice has to admit their heart dropped when wordspread about the tomato epidemic at Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz Inc. A salmonella-tainted shipment of tomatoesled to 400 people getting sick in July 2004,…
The 5 firsts of hourly employee retention
With the labor pool shrinking sources of new hourly recruits are drying up. First impressions are lasting. Newly hired, hourly employees are not. Before they’ve been on the job just six months, more than 50% are gone. Some were probably not a good fit for the job in the first place, but some productive, dependable,…
ice cold profits
Finding the right ice machine can turn the dispensed beverage business into one red-hot category. Ice and ice delivery is a vital part of a convenience and/or gas store’s inventory. Whether it’s used to complement selfserve beverage systems, for sale as bagged ice or within the store for icing down beverages and food displays, ice…
jaded in new jersey
As New Jersey faces its fourth excise tax increase in four years, retailers are watching their dwindling tobacco sales head across state lines. Every state has its own issues to deal with, but it seems that New Jersey has been dealt a particularly difficult hand. “New Jersey is a difficult state for convenience stores to…
dipping into new profits
Premium products driving the moist smokeless tobacco business, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco said. An influx of deep-discount products is leading retailers to change the way they merchandise moist smokeless tobacco (MST) products, and experts are concerned that these changes are adversely affecting moist smokeless profitability. As the deep-discount segment has grown in volume, it is compressing…
lighting your way to profitablilty
Marketers tend to give a lot of counter space to novelty lighters, but BIC warns that long-term profitability comes from repeat sales of traditional products. That novelty lighter that emits a powerful flame might make for an interesting conversation starter, but it’s not the best way to grow long-term profitability in the lighter category, warns…
cigar sales smoking
Retailers report strong sales and profits in OTP boosted by cigars. According to the National Association of Convenience Stores’ 2006 State of the Industry (SOI) report, retailers can expect the other tobacco (OTP) category to keep on growing with flavored cigars driving that growth. Cigar sales last year jumped 5.2% and accounted for 30.48% of…
treats of the trade
When retailers keep a watchful eye on products and utilize their vendor relationships, candy can produce some dandy results. When retailers keep a watchful eye on products and utilize their vendor relationships, candy can produce some dandy results. By Kate Quackenbush, Managing Editor An entire country may separate Kentucky-based Red Hed Oil Co. and Washington-based…
brewing a beer strategy
Regional marketers discuss hot trends in the cold vault. Variety and pricing are the keys to building the beer business, according to a Convenience Store Decisions survey of regional marketers. “We’re seeing strong sales in imports, as well as the flavored alcoholic beverages,” said Doreen Lewis, category manager of beer and wine for Portsmouth, N.H.-based…
dipping into new profits
Premium products driving the moist smokeless tobacco business, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco says. An influx of deep-discount products is forcing retailers to change the way they merchandise moist smokeless tobacco (MST) products and experts are concerned that these changes are adversely affecting moist smokeless profitability. As the deep-discount segment has grown in volume, it is compressing…