The world’s largest convenience retailer readies to ’pour it on’ with the introduction of Thousand Oaks, its own wine brand. (No word yet of a private-label cheese to go with it.) 7-Eleven Inc., the company that “invented” private-label in the conveniencestore space with its now-famous Slurpee and Big Gulp brands (among others),has taken private brands…

Looking for a unique foodservice offer that requires minimal labor and comes with its own edible package? A new company founded by food designer and consultant Nir Adar offers "the first real food innovation since sliced bread." While living in New York, Adar saw how people wrestled with enormous pizza slices and wondered if there…

Valero expects customers to munch as many as 1.5 million bags of its new Fresh For years Valero Energy Corp. has offered a proprietary line of sandwichesunder several brand names. Two years ago it took a step into the bottled watercategory with three packages of spring water under its Fresh Choices label.Its most recent proprietary…

BP enlists a third-party ’matchmaker’ for help in recruiting African-American Executive leadership at BP West Coast Products LLC (La Palma, CA) hasbeen faced with the difficult challenge of attracting African-American franchiseesto its ampm store brand. The stores, which market ARCObranded gasoline, arenot being viewed as an attractive option by African-American entrepreneurs,according to Tony Padulo, director…

To make its uniforms more appealing to employees, QSR king McDonald's is preparingto invest $80 million in new duds that could put employees on People magazine'sBest-Dressed List. A report in Advertising Age says the chain has had serious discussionswith design moguls Russell Simmons, P. Diddy and Tommy Hilfiger, among others,to develop uniforms that riff on…

Lawsuits and fraud investigations targeting the soon-to-be embattled insurance industry have retailers reconsidering the coverage they pay for and from whom they buy it. Until it became the subject of billion-dollar fraud investigations,the mere mention of “insurance” would cause many retailers’ eyes to glaze overwith disinterest. But today, with criminal charges pending and millions of…

Digital advertising networks boost the top line by funneling traffic from the great outdoors to inside the store. How to consistently transform gas customers into insidethe-store customersremains one of the great mysteries of our time. Retailers have tried a batteryof techniques— instore promotions with banners, advertisements blastingfrom overhead speakers, static ads on pumptoppers and streaming…

A gourmet sandwich program gives Kwik Chek added food sales and additional menu items without adding labor. For a company whose foodservice strategy started out as “fry it, box it and hope they buy it,” Kwik Chek Food Stores (Bonham, TX) has come a long way. About 12 years ago Kwik Chek realized it had…

Huck’s Food & Fuel (Carmi, IL) is no stranger to big ideas. The company’s latest brainstorm has the chain saving on phone calls made from stores to regional and district managers. It’s also getting operations staffers more involved in the decision-making process surrounding competitive gas pricing. A little more than a year ago, Huck’s President…

This natural descendant of the c-store intends to offer everything from lottery tickets and liquor to groceries and fast food—all in a drive-thru format. Stephen Beardsley wants to out-convenience the c-store industry. Beardsley is president of AutoCart LLC (Las Cruces, NM), a company that plans on building a $13 million to $18 million “Drive-Thru Supercenter”…