Prying Properties Loose Important for retailers to understand is that commercial real estate today is an industry in transition. Its landscape is littered with landlords, if not desperate, than at least strongly motivated to make deals work. “Things are tight,” said George Anderson, vice president of market analytics for NAI Global in Princeton,…
Become Energy Efficient
Emerson has recently introduced a new line of case controls that are capable of controlling compressors, defrosters, case fans and lighting, as well as optional communications with Emerson’s E2 Facility Management System. The new case controllers utilize the same compact design as many European-styled controls and feature localized programming capabilities and displays that make it…
Why Every Convenience Store Owner Needs An Exit Plan
By Ted Thomas, Sun Exit Advisors Most convenience store owners are too busy to think about their exit plan. There comes a time, however, when business owners want to successfully leave their business. Unfortunately, when it comes time for transition, most don’t know how to accomplish that goal. A common mistake is to rush to…
Frontline Reversal of Fortune
EDITOR’S NOTE: CSD AND HR CONSULTANT MEL KLEIMAN WILL PRESENT THE SECOND ANNUAL HR STUDY, FEATURING EMPLOYEE TRENDING DATA AND A STORE EMPLOYEE SALARY OVERVIEW, IN THE JANUARY 2010 ISSUE OF CONVENIENCE STORE DECISIONS. Just a short 18 months ago, most convenience retailers were desperate for frontline workers and, on most days, priority one was to…
How to Achieve and Maintain ADA Compliance
Ever since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) went into effect in 1992, it has dramatically improved the lives of disabled individuals by working to make all public places in the U.S. both accessible and hospitable to those with disabilities. But even though the ADA has greatly helped in achieving a better quality of life…
Are Your Underground Storage Tanks Safe?
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…
Nice N Easy Named CSD’s 2009 Chain of the Year
Nice guys do finish first. Nice N Grocery Shoppes Inc., the Canastota, N.Y. operator of 82 convenience stores, was named Convenience Store Decisions’ 2009 Convenience Store Chain of the Year. Nice N Easy will be honored at an invitation-only gala at the Wynn Las Vegas during the NACS Show on Oct. 21. “The last line…
What’s in a Name?
The question Jim Dodrill grappled with last summer: What’s in a name? A partner at Pennsylvania-based LMA Architects, Dodrill had been approached by Consumers Petroleum of Trumbull, Conn. to help create a corporate brand for the company’s dozen or more convenience stores in Connecticut. Consumers Petroleum had acquired a handful of existing convenience stores in…
To Market, To Market…
Every year, thousands of new products are introduced into an already crowded marketplace. In fact, a record-breaking 182,000 consumer packaged goods made their debut in 2007, up 17% jump over the previous year, according to Mintel International, a marketing research group. Some were hits, some were misses and some found their way onto convenience store…
Identifying More Effective Profit-Building Strategies
“In a business like cigars, where unit volume is growing 10% plus year-over-year, emerging strategic thinking in convenience retail suggests that retailers can grow even faster by employing a “price-for-volume” strategy for key products.” David Bishop, partner, Willard Bishop This summer, we examined how convenience retailers could manage the cigar category differently to realize above-market…