Ogden, Utah-based Flying J Inc. has filed voluntary petitions for itself and some of its subsidiaries to reorganize under Chapter 11. The company operates nearly 250 travel plazas and gas stations nationwide, and it had 2007 sales exceeding $16 billion. Flying J President and CEO J. Phillip Adams said the filing was triggered by a…
BP Testing “Smart Wi-Fi” at U.S. Stores
BP North America has teamed with two wireless networking firms to pilot a souped-up version of Wi-Fi at 50 stores nationwide, all in hopes of adding more value to the customer experience. “We’re very interested in what the customer reaction will be,” said BP spokesman Scott Dean. “We have high hopes for this.” BP turned…
The Maine Thing
If you’re driving north or south along a crooked road just inside Maine’s Atlantic coast, you’re eating up New England’s northernmost scenery on Interstate 95. Trucking southbound through the state’s southern belly, you might stop off for gas in the town of Waterville and find J&S Oil’s Xpress Stop Service Station sitting just off the…
Americans’ Changing Love Affair with Pizza
Consumers have shifted their pizza-ordering habits, cutting back on weekdays but ordering more often on weekends, Technomic Information Services found earlier this year. In 2006, Technomic found that 35% of consumers indicated that they would primarily order pizza for dinner during the week, and just over a quarter (28%) typically ordered pizza for dinner during…
Reaching Your Target Audience
When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise. There’s no doubt we’re trudging through some tough times—it’s been this way for at least the past year. And there’s certainly no “crystal ball” to tell us when it’ll all be over. We might pull out of this down cycle sooner…
Honoring Our Past
This month begins a very special year for Convenience Store Decisions. Throughout 2009 we are committed to recognizing the leaders and innovators that have shaped the convenience store and petroleum industry and helped create this multi-billion-dollar retail sector. Legends in Retailing will focus on the challenges operators faced in the early days of the industry,…
Foodservice Flexibility
Few items that c-stores carry personify the industry’s mission more fully than sandwiches and wraps: convenient, colorful, fast, tasty, inexpensive and full of impulse-sale potential. But the fact that consumers can also find them everywhere—from Wal-Mart and Barnes & Noble to Starbucks and every local grocery and convenience store in between—means operators have to get…
Operations Wake-Up Call
Tougher economic times are pushing convenience retailers to look at how they can improve operations. While cutting costs may be one common theme, savvy retailers are also looking at other avenues to help them stand out among the competition. “The economy changed and that changes how people are buying,” said Brooks Blair, owner of Bells…
Three-Mile Marketing
As John Matthews sees it, a store languishing in mediocrity is a store that has become wallpaper in the halls of retail. “Generally, when starting a business, it’s easy to get people excited when its new and fresh,” said Matthews, founder of Chicago-based retail marketing firm Gray Cat Enterprises. “After a few years, though,…
Geo. H. Green Embraces the Holiday Season
Despite the challenging economy, lost jobs and holiday malaise, the spirit of Christmas reigned supreme at Green Oil Co. Buoyed by an incredible effort from the caring employees and customers of two Super Stores, a bit of vendor and dealer support and a wonderful performance by its office staff, the Green Oil team announced it…