Most convenience store operators don’t offer a whole lot of seafood on their menus, which is usually fine, because convenience store customers aren’t looking for seafood. Logistical issues, product-paucity, quality and food safety concerns are among the fears retailers have about investing in the seafood segment. But given seafood’s health benefits and generally growing popularity…

Kum & Go has named Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods (CJRW) as the company’s advertising agency of record. Starting January 2010, CJRW will aid in the strategic development of Kum & Go marketing initiatives and will execute materials ranging from in-store signage to broadcast advertising for Kum & Go and its portfolio of proprietary products. This…

At first look, boosting business with breakfast sales may seem like a strange idea in these tough economic times as today’s high unemployment means fewer workers stopping for breakfast en route to work. The fact that teenagers and men between the ages of 18-35, who are some of the c-store industry’s most frequent visitors, have…

It’s been an eventful five decades for Kum & Go, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. Entrepreneurs W.A. Krause and T.S. Gentle founded Kum & Go in 1959 under the original name of the Hampton Oil Co., which later changed to Krause Gentle Corp. In the 1970s, the co-founders wanted a name that would…

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…

As if the turbulent economy, rising state taxes and local anti-smoking regulations hadn’t rendered the retail cigar landscape dangerous enough, enter the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which wants to significantly reshape that landscape, but so far hasn’t told anyone—most notably the retailers that will be selling the products—how. Some background: The law granting…

In celebration of the grand opening of its newest stores in southwest Missouri, Kum & Go, one of the nation’s leading convenience store chains, will give away a 2009 Harley Davidson Nightster motorcycle to one of its loyal customers. “The Harley Davidson giveaway is a perfect opportunity for us to get to know our newest…

A perfect storm of societal, legislative, retail and economic factors in 2009 appears poised to push sales of smokeless products—the fastest-growing tobacco category—higher than ever. Convenience store retailers and marketers of such leading brands as Copenhagen, Skoal, Redman, Timberwolf, Kodiak, Red Seal, Rooster, Grizzly, Husky and Longhorn have already seen a flurry of activity on…