Taylor, Mich.-based Atlas Oil Co. is among the fastest growing private companies in the nation for the second year running. Inc. magazine just published its fourth annual Inc. 5000 list and Atlas increased its position by 278 spots to 4,146 overall. In Michigan, where Atlas is headquartered, the company is ranked at the top of…
Circle K Offers Harley-Davidson Sweepstakes
XYIENCE is offering Circle K convenience store shoppers in select states the chance to win a new Harley-Davidson Sportster 883 Low in a text message sweepstakes contest. The contest, which launches Sept. 1 and runs through Oct.31, includes participating stores in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts. Legal residents of…
Folk Oil Fights Hunger
Folk Oil’s PS Food Marts chain went to bat for hunger in Michigan and Ohio and raised more than $50,000 for local charities in just two short weeks. From March 15-31 PS Food Mart employees at the chain’s 29 stores encouraged customers and vendors to purchase paper hearts as part of its “Fight Hunger. Give…
Brookwood Farms Appoints New Mid Regional Manager
Brookwood Farms BBQ has hired Chuck Mastruserio as its new regional manager for the Mid West region. “We are very excited to have Chuck join our team as we expand our sales and growth into the Midwest region of the country,” said Twig Wood, Brookwood Farms president. He will assume the responsibilities of managing sales…
Strong Outlook for Meat Snacks
Meat snacks—beef jerky, meat sticks, pork rinds and more—are right at home at U.S. convenience stores. And, despite the rough economy and some sales slippage, new products and popular brands continue to excite customers. Paul Lyons, president and owner of Up North Jerky in Troy, Mich., and a partner, with Sam Kassem and Mike Abdullah,…
Pumping Up In-Store Sales
A busy salesman on the way to his next appointment pulls into a Spinx convenience store to fill up his tank. It’s almost 1 p.m. and he hasn’t stopped since his day began just before 9 a.m. While pumping fuel, he glances at the color monitor built into the gas pump. He looks closer at…
How Foodservice Impacts Profits
Dennis Peters has no complaints about the proprietary fresh chicken program at two of his 24 Friendship Foods stores in Ohio. It’s popular, it’s profitable and it’s been a proven concept for the past 12 years. Well, maybe there’s one complaint. It’s a little too fresh. Not “peck-you-on-the-hand-when-you-grab-it” fresh, but certainly fresh enough to see…
Simon Says: Refine Your Retail
Don Glenn and Jake Leatherman had just wrapped up three store visits to Atlas Oil customers in southern Michigan when their conversation turned from coffee to a slightly more slippery substance: petroleum. “Four dollars,” said Glenn, director of retail sales at Taylor, Mich.-based fuel distributor Atlas. “That’s where everybody’s world changed.” Leatherman, Atlas’ senior retail…