Americans are more amenable to buying meals at convenience stores, but won’t budge when it comes to quality, price or convenience factors like portability and packaging. That means there’s the potential for some real money in home meal replacement (HMR), but it has to be done well, and in just the right locations. Then there’s…
Three Decades of Wisdom and Experience
Chief Financial Officer, Certified Oil I joined Certified Oil in 1975. As a CPA, my background was in auditing and taxation. Being in the gasoline business with Certified over the past 34 years has made me use every bit of knowledge and experience I acquired just to keep up with the fast pace and complexity…
A Certified Success
View From the Top: Certified Oil’s Leadership Team If experience is an accurate indicator of a company’s success, Certified Oil has a bright future. Three members of the company’s senior leadership team have been with the company for more than 30 years, and several others have major oil, grocery and management consulting backgrounds. The leadership…
Legislative Wrap Up for 2009
With the Democrats controlling both houses of Congress and the White House, this year has seen major federal tax and regulatory legislation signed into law that will dramatically impact the tobacco industry. On April 1, the largest tax increase on a single product in the history of the U.S. became law with the federal cigarette…
Retailing on Two Wheels
With gas pumps out front, automotive supplies inside and the occasional adjacent lube shop, c-stores are geared toward the driving public. But as more commuters take to bikes for exercise, to save on gas or to support a greener environment, one c-store owner is making bicycles his business. A bike commuter and bike mechanic, Edwin…
Cruising the Express Lane
Customers in Sandpoint, Idaho crave convenience, but even they were surprised by the speed of service offered at the new Express Lane drive-through convenience store. Express Lane’s founder Adrian Cox was looking to expand his company and found the drive-through concept too tempting to pass up. He described the offering as an appealing and cost-effective…
People Make the Industry
When we decided to acquire Convenience Store Decisions from Penton Media nearly two years ago, we did so with an optimistic view of the convenience channel. The dynamics of the industry and its long-term growth prospects in terms of demographics, population expansion in key market areas, the range of needs it fills on a daily…
Opportunities Abound
The NACS Show is my annual reminder of just how much innovation exists among the many talented retailers and suppliers I communicate with every day. I expect this year’s show—amazingly the 14th of my career—to be one of the most interesting I’ve ever attended. While the event has so much to offer, a black cloud…
YoCream
YoCream introduces new Tropical TremorTM flavors under their Jolly RancherTM Frozen Beverage brand: Pomegranate, Wild Berry, Mango, Fruit Punch and Sour Green Apple. The exciting new beverages are boldly flavored, less sweet, a little tart and intensely colored. Available for frozen carbonated and uncarbonated applications, the syrups are packaged in shelf stable bags with a…
Solo Cup
Solo continues their commitment to helping convenience store operators maximize profits while providing real value to their customers. Reveal™ Polypropylene Cold Cups are the right product when combined with their single-lid solution to reduce SKUs, minimize waste and save money. For more information visit www.solocup.com or stop by NACS Booth # 854