A new study reveals that customers are ready to take their relationship with your stores and employees to a new level. Are you? Kathy (not her real name) is a grandmother in her late 40s who recently movedfrom an apartment in Scottsdale, AZ, to a house in Phoenix. “So I don’t havemuch connection to my [...]
Advertising is a severely underutilized tool for convenience retailers, according to one industry guru. So, how much should you allocate for your ad budgetand where should you invest it? Each year, convenience retailers spend an estimated $300 million in advertising.That sounds like a lot of dough, but John Matthews, president of marketing consultingfirm Gray Cat [...]
Singles may account for the bulk of a convenience retailer’s packaged beverage sales, but multi-packs represent a home-run growth opportunity as “gateway items” to other impulse purchases. About three years ago, Diane Clark surveyed her market to see her conveniencestore rivals getting aggressive with multi-pack soft drinks: large warm displays,both inside and out. Her 27 [...]
Together, Darcy Paluch and Steve Hendrickson have nearly 30 years of experience with Moyle Petroleum (Rapid City, SD), which operates 35 Common Cents Food Stores in five states. Both started their retailing careers at store-level, learning the trade from the inside out. Despite the challenges, Paluch, marketing director for Common Cents, sees a huge upside [...]
When Chevron Corp. (San Ramon, CA) wanted to upgrade the gourmet coffee offerat its ExtraMile Convenience Stores, it went north of the border to tap Canadianroaster Van Houtte to do the brews for a pilot program in the Seattle market.Since May, 43 ExtraMile units in the area have been featuring Van Houtte brandedcoffee stations. The [...]
Labeled “cannibalistic” by some, drive-thru coffee kiosks on c-store lots can perk up in-store java sales. Over the past 11 years, more than 70 of Montanabased Mountain Mudd’ssignature green 8′ by 8′ drive-thru kiosks have popped up in parking lots spanning21 states, and founder Brenda Burkhartsmeier has plans to take over the nationalNo. 2 niche [...]
Retailers trim energy costs by investing in building-control systems geared specifically for their stores Checking the fence line? Use a quarter horse. Entering the Preakness or theKentucky Derby? Saddle up a thoroughbred. Plowing the field or pulling a heavyload? Enlist a draft horse. And a Morgan is just right for pleasure riding.The point is, using [...]
To maintain uptime and reduce servicing, the latest generation of electronic power conditioners guards data in case of power failure or lockups in ATM systems. To maintain uptime and reduce servicing, the latest generation of electronicpower conditioners guards data in case of power failure or lockups in ATM systems. In the race to deliver 100% [...]
Vic Shealy, president of Citizens Fuel Co./Citi Stop Convenience Stores (Asheville, NC), has concentrated on soft benefits since he bought the business in 1974. “We don
When employees perform below expectations, chances are it’s not a training issue. Often, employees fail because of the systems that are supposed to support them. Researchers tell us that when employees who know how to perform the dutiesof their jobs aren’t performing them, lack of training is rarely the cause. Job-related training salespeople say otherwise, [...]
Casey’s and CJ’s don’t skimp when it comes to offering fresh pizza. Dedicated labor and attention to detail keep these programs profitable. Easy doesn’t necessarily mean better. That’s the view of Casey’s General Stores(Ankeny, IA) when it comes to foodservice. With more than 1,300 corporate-ownedstores and 19 franchised stores covering nine Midwest states, the company [...]
Welcome back to Las Vegas—the adopted home of this year’s NACS Show following the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the Southeast. Our hearts remain with our friends, relatives and colleagues in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and we wish them a quick and full recovery. New Orleans is one of my favorite cities to visit. [...]
Hey, what do you call it when a group of executives from financial servicesfirms spends the night at a bed and breakfast? (Sounds like a joke, but it isn
Having a tough time finding work to attract the college-age crowd? You couldalways just have them reimagine your company. Recruiting college-age kids to work in a c-store environment remains a challengefor most of the industry. But Jr. Foods (Jonesboro, AR) has found a unique wayto get students from the University of Arkansas “working” for the [...]
First-class service sets Waterway Gas & Wash apart from the crowd. Some people would consider Henry Dubinsky a visionary, a man ahead ofhis time. As far back as 1970, he realized that carwash and gasoline were naturalbedfellows. Dubinsky, chairman and chief executive officer of Waterway Gas &Wash Co., knew even then that the two profit [...]