It has been said time and again that youcan’t put a price on having an outstanding imageand offering great service. For BP, however, thatprice is $36 million–that’s what the oil supermajor is investing in a long-term advertising campaignto reach out to convenience store and petroleum customers with giveaways, in-store promotions and topromote its emphasis on…
food for thought
Patience doesn't come easy, but it can haveits rewards. Nowhere is that more evident thanby observing the foodservice programs at Exxon Mobil Corp. and Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes. Bothchains have refined their food segments over severalyears to come up with the right menu to meet the needsof core customers, and that's why Convenience StoreDecisions…
upgrading the kitchen
The type of equipment and its efficiencies play a major part in the success of a foodservice offering. Forget that crusty, old buttered roll grandpa picked up atthe corner store to complementhis morning coffee back in the day.Forget about those tiny bags of pretzelsor chips that used to suffice as a “meal onthe go” during…
infinite possibilities
With a short life, big margins and a susceptibility to promotions, lighters can illuminate sales with the right variety and display. Lighters were once a ways toa mean—to light up a cigarette,ignite a candle or fire up a birthday cake—but they’ve evolved into a form of self-expression. David Dill,vice president of sales and marketing forJacksonville,…
proprietary perserverance
Retailers are creating a buzz with new foodservice concepts— with some help from vendors and suppliers. There’s more than one wayto skin a cat, just like there’smore than one way to run a convenience foodservice program.Some retailers don’t know where to start,so they team up with branded conceptsthat lay everything out for them. Othersknow what…
applauding the qt culture
Spend just a few minutes inside a QuikTrip convenience store and one thing becomes immediately clear: there seems to be a vibrant energy that is shared between customers and employees. This is no accident. The privately held Tulsa, Okla.-based chain has dedicatedvirtually all of its 49 years to cultivating this bond between customers and employees.…
kumgos fresh face
Greg Tornberg,Vice President of Fresh Foods By Kim Sharrah,Editorial Assistant Greg Tornberg has returned to his roots at Hampton, Iowabased Kum & Go as the new vice president of fresh foods. Tornberg was recently promoted after returning to the company in 2004 from The Pantry Inc., when Kum & Go made a compelling offer to…
how smart is your safe
Retailers are using safe technology to secure profits and keep an eye on employees. One minute, maybe two. That’s all it takes for an armed robber to come into a convenience store, jam a gun in a clerk’s face, clean out the register and flee like the wind into the night. It takes even less…
An Enlighting Solution
By Scott Jordan, Contributing Editor Lighting control is a must for convenience store owners and managers, but it can also be a source of frustration due to required maintenance of mechanical and electronic time clocks that have been used for decades to automatically turn lights on and off as necessary. But storeowners and managers are…
the price of loyalty
If there was one message to come out of Convenience Store Decisions‘ loyalty Webcast it’s that there is a loyalty solution for everyone, regardless of chain size and the financial investment. CSD‘s “Building and Integrating a LoyaltyProgram,” part of its Online RoundtableSeries, brought together multiple retailers,suppliers and industry experts to discussthe loyalty options currently available…