Convenience store sales, both at the pump and inside the store, set new records in 2011, according to data released today by NACS. In-store convenience store sales grew 2.4%, reaching a record $195.0 billion. Combined with $486.9 billion in motor fuels sales, total convenience store sales in 2011 were $681.9 billion, or one out of…
High Expectations for Cigarettes
While there are those who would like to see cigarettes go up in smoke, c-store operators can rest assured that this critical category will continue to be ablaze with activity. “Among the trends I see for 2012 is that there is going to be continued or heightened competition among the second tier brands,” said Bonnie…
Cigarette Warning Labels Upheld By Appeals Court
Following a federal court decision that graphic warning labels were unconstitutional, an appellate court has ruled that requiring cigarette warning labels are not a violation of free speech, rather they fall under commercial speech disclosures, are disclosing the health risks of cigarettes and are reasonably related to the government’s interest of preventing the deception of…
New Report Attacks Tobacco Sales, Targets C-Stores
Report by anti-smoking groups condemns c-stores for point-of-sale tobacco marketing. A new report, titled “Deadly Alliance: How Tobacco Companies and Convenience Stores Partner to Market Tobacco Products and Fight Life-Saving Policies” has been released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Counter Tobacco (a project that works to counter tobacco product sales and marketing at the…
FDA Appeals Federal Court Tobacco Ruling
Administration continues to push for graphic warning labels on cigarette packages. Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration appealed the February 29, 2012 decision issued by Federal District Court Judge Richard Leon which held that the FDA’s new graphic images and text warnings for cigarette packaging and cigarette advertisements violate free speech protections under the First…
R.J. Reynolds Launches Get Engaged
R.J. Reynolds delivers on its pledge to its retail partners with a powerful new online tool: Get Engaged. R.J. Reynolds has launched Get Engaged, a new feature on EngageRJRT.com, the online resource for R.J. Reynolds’ retail partners. Get Engaged was created as a research and learning platform intended to provide retailers with shopper insights and…
Designing a Winning OTP Strategy
Convenience stores have evolved from being a destination for cigarettes to a destination for tobacco products as a whole. By Joe Bush, Contributing Editor. It was inevitable that the conversation on convenience store cigar sales would shift eventually from rapid growth to supplier relations, category management and marketing. As cigarette regulations and prices and taxes…
Cigarette Tax Changes Proposed For Rhode Island
State lawmaker looks to reduce cigarette tax to keep smokers shopping inside Rhode Island. Rhode Island Representative Robert Philips is calling on the state to slash its cigarette tax by $1 to encourage smokers to shop local instead of crossing state borders to buy smokes in neighboring Massachusetts and Connecticut, thus keeping tax dollars in…
Quality Pipe Tobacco
Russell Springs, Ky.-based Tantus Tobacco, a company dedicated to bringing high-quality, value-priced filtered cigars, cigarettes and pipe tobacco to the market, has added Red Buck Pipe Tobacco to its product line. Red Buck Pipe Tobacco is available in eight-ounce, 16-ounce and five-pound bags in three flavors, Regular, Mild and Menthol. The Red Buck brand is…
Adding a Spark to Tobacco Sales
Customized and novelty lighters offer customers an opportunity to express themselves. By Howard Riell, Associate Editor. In simpler times, lighters were used chiefly as a means to an end—lighting up a cigarette, birthday candles or even restarting an oven. Today, however, with the growth of the tobacco accessories category, lighters have become an end in…