Kum & Go announced the grand opening of two stores this weekend, one in Mt. Vernon, Mo., and one in Sioux City, Iowa. The new Vernon, Mo., Kum & Go is located at 8900 E Mt. Vernon Blvd, and the Sioux City, Iowa location opened at 1373 Pierce St. Both stores kicked off their grand…
C-Store Competitors Drive Sales With Social Media
Dunkin’ Donuts is using social media platform Foursquare to secure loyal customers in the Florida market, Nation’s Restaurant News reported. It recently launched its first Foursquare regional promotion in two markets in Florida. The promotion offers users of the location-based game the chance to win a free donut after they “check in” at the same…
Retail Gasoline On the Rise
Brian L. Milne, Refined Fuels Editor, Telvent DTN The Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical arm of the Department of Energy, released an outlook projecting the U.S. retail price for regular grade gasoline will average $3 gallon in 2011-a price level previously seen as a breaking point for the American consumer. No more; with higher…
Employment Outlook Shows Promise
Employers’ hiring plans for the upcoming first quarter are “the most promising” in more than two years, on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook survey published Tuesday. A seasonally adjusted net 9% of firms said they expect to hire in the first quarter, the largest percentage since the fourth quarter of…
NCSU Scores Narrow Lead In Battle for Bean Street
Cary, N.C.-based The Pantry Inc., has announced more than 20,000 University of North Carolina, NC State University and Duke University branded coffee cups have been purchased at Triangle Kangaroo Express locations since the start of the Battle for Bean Street competition three weeks ago. For the first time in a single collaborative campaign, Kangaroo Express…
Kroger Names SVP of Retail Operations
The Kroger Co. has named Geoffrey Covert senior vice president of retail operations, effective Jan. 1, 2011. Covert, 59, joined Kroger in 1996. He has served as president of the company’s Cincinnati/Dayton Division for the past six years. Previously, he served as senior vice president and president of Kroger Manufacturing. Before joining Kroger, Covert worked…
Gas Prices Grow
Gas prices have soared to the highest price of the year, topping $3 a gallon, The Citizens’ Voice reported. For the first time since Oct. 2008, gas prices have risen to an average of $3.05 a gallon in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa. area, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic. The national average price of self-serve regular gas sits…
7-Eleven Buys 183 ExxonMobil Locations in Florida
7-Eleven Inc. has agreed to acquire ExxonMobil’s retail interests in 183 Florida sites. Included in the acquisition is a combination of company- and dealer-operated sites located in Orlando, Southwest Florida, Palm Beach and Broward County. The 183 sites include five unused parcels of land. The majority of locations will be rebranded as 7-Eleven operations, and…
Kroger Provides Free Flu Shots
The Kroger Co. is bringing free flu shots to thousands of eligible individuals. Beginning today, Kroger is making free flu shot vouchers available to The Salvation Army and to Feeding America, a domestic hunger relief organization. Uninsured or underinsured shoppers in areas with a Kroger or a Kroger banner pharmacy such as City Market, Dillons,…
Sunflower Farmers Market To Open In California
Sunflower Farmers Market, a rapidly growing value-priced organic and natural foods grocer in six Southwestern states, is set to open its first store in California in April 2011. While the concept is new to California, Mike Gilliland, the man behind the brand, is well known there. He established the popular Wild Oats supermarket in the…