The first three months of 2008 were busy for the Subway restaurant chain, which hit impressive milestones and opened more than 400 new locations, the company said. The chain’s now has more than 29,000 locations, 7,500 of which are in international markets and 3,500 of which are in convenience stores, truck stops and travel centers. [...]

Rutter’s Farm Stores is revving up its “Fuel Up Free!” gas giveaway where four grand-prize winners will receive 15 gallons of free gas for three years, the company said. The giveaway runs May 26 to Aug. 24, with grand-prize drawings taking place on June 23, July 14, Aug. 4 and Sept. 15. “There’s been a [...]

Miller Brewing Co. and Anheuser-Busch are aiming to put their beer cans firmly into hunter’s hands as they roll out a new line of camouflage cans and related promotions, brandweek.com reported. The camo-cans will target the 65 million outdoor sportsmen and sportswomen, the Web site reported. Miller High Life and Anheuser-Busch have both long been [...]

Dunkin’ Donuts ambitious national expansion program continues to grow, as two more states have been pegged for dozens of new franchise locations within the next several years. The company said it is looking at the Grand Rapids, Mich., market as a place for 70 new restaurants over the next several years, with sites located in [...]

Retail fuel prices hit a new high Monday and crude settled above $127 for the first time, tightening the squeeze on drivers planning holiday road trips this weekend, the Associated Press reported. Crude hit a record $127.05 a barrel, while the average cost for a gallon of regular gas was $3.79, according to AAA and [...]

High gas prices and high credit card interchange fees are cooking up a witch’s brew of problems for small businesses, particularly c-stores and other petroleum retailers. That’s the meat of the message from Tom Robinson, NACS vice chairman of government relations, who testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Task Force this week. "If [...]

Following up on its acquisition of 33 Zip Trip convenience stores in the Pacific Northwest, CHS Inc. has begun converting the c-stores from the 76 brand to the Cenex energy brand, the company said. The initial conversion includes the installation of new signs and lighting, as well as updating graphics on canopies and fuel pumps. [...]

Chester’s International, a fried chicken foodservice offering for c-stores, has opened at Road Ranger Travel Plaza in St. Robert, Mo., the second of many in a new partnership between Road Ranger and Chester’s. Chester’s International mascot, Chester the Chicken, was on site at the new location for a ribbon-cutting and photos. The St. Robert Road [...]

Rutter’s Farm Stores is rolling out a program offering custom stir-fry and fresh-baked bread, all in a move to set the company’s foodservice apart from competitors. “We’ve spent months developing a menu that’s not typically associated with a convenience store,” said Jerry Weiner, vice president of foodservice at Rutter’s. “We’ve positioned ourselves to compete against [...]

Attorneys for beverage distribution companies are urging Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court to bar takeout sales of six-packs unless a retailer allows the beer to be consumed on the premises, The Associated Press, reported. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board recently granted a license allowing beer sales at Sheetz in Altoona, Pa., a decision that has triggered much [...]

The owner of a heating company and c-store chain in Pennsylvania is teaming with a speedway owner in that state to give away free gas cards to 10 race fans, the companies said. Jeff Powell, owner of heating and cooling provider JJ Powell and Snappy’s Convenience Stores, a nine-store chain in central Pennsylvania, is working [...]

Dunkin’ Brands Inc. became a founding donor of the The Culinary Institute of America’s “El Sueño” initiative after donating $1 million to the school’s baking and pastry kitchens at a new campus in San Antonio, Texas, and the main campus in Hyde Park, New York, The Culinary Institute of America reported. The money will be [...]

Consumers are planning to spend much of their tax rebate checks on necessities like gas and food, leaving less money to stimulate the economy with purchases on discretionary items, industry research from the National Retail Federation and BIGresearch revealed. Consumers said they plan to spend 40% of their tax rebate checks, which will send $42 [...]

Wawa Inc. plans to open its first drive-in food service this week at a store on George Washington Memorial Highway in Yorktown, Va., the Virginian-Pilot reported. Customers will be able to pull into any of 20 parking spots and order food and drinks through a speaker system at the store, and Wawa servers will bring [...]

Ventless technology leader Giles Enterprises Inc., of Montgomery, Ala., has added two new Environmental Hoods to its product like to promote clean-air technologies. The company’s ventless hoods clean the air safely and re-circulate it into a room without needing a permanent, vented system. The new Environmental Hoods vent like traditional Hood Systems, but they take [...]