Solidus Networks, Inc., which operates as Pay By Touch, said that it will no longer process biometric transactions on behalf of its merchant customers and consumer membership base. The move was effective March 20, the company announced in a statement on Friday. On December 14, 2007, Solidus Networks filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection under Chapter [...]
In a move sure to heat up the coffee war among retailers, Starbucks Coffee Co. has announced plans to introduce a series of groundbreaking initiatives that Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says will transform the customer experience. News of the plan was featured in Thursday’s USA Today, though Schultz first presented it to more than 6,000 [...]
Two Massachusetts men running an Exxon gas station in Portsmouth, N.H. face criminal charges for skimming thousands of dollars in cash in an elaborate scheme, TV stations there reported. Manuel Labaki, of Walpole, and Sobh Mossad, of Norwood, allegedly stole $76,000 from the company that supplies fuel to that gas station, stations WMUR and WBZTV [...]
Researchers in North Carolina said they’ve found a way to genetically modify tobacco plants to knock out one of the genes that turns nicotine into one of the carcinogens in cured tobacco, the Web site wired.com reported. The Philip Morris-funded North Carolina State researchers say the work, featured in Plant Biotechnology Journal, could lead to [...]
Colorado legislators passed Senate Bill 82 this week, a crucial step in repealing that state’s ban on Sunday alcohol sales. The bill passed the Senate by 24-9, and now moves to Governor Bill Ritter Jr.’s desk for final signature. If he approves the measure, it will go into effect on July 1, 2008. Colorado Sen. [...]
Three Hendricks County gas stations agreed to refund their customers up to 70 cents per gallon of gas purchased last Friday after an inquiry by the state’s attorney general revealed possible excessive pricing, The Indianapolis Star reported. A Speedway gas station and two Marathon stations had set prices at $4.09 per gallon of regular unleaded [...]
The US EPA’s appeals board has ordered Euclid of Virginia Inc. to pay a $3.16 million penalty for violating regulations at 23 of its Lowest Price gas stations, according to an EPA press release. The EPA filed a complaint against the company in fall of 2002 after it discovered that Euclid may have violated regulations [...]
Following up on a venture that first unraveled in the Dallas area more than two years ago, Gas Station TV is adding 90 flat-screen televisions to fuel dispensers at 50 Boston-area convenience stores, the Boston Globe reported. Gas Station TV first installed televisions at convenience store fuel dispensers in Dallas in January 2006, and has [...]
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., Convenience Store Decisions 2007 Convenience Store Chain of the Year, reached a deal through its Mac’s Convenience Stores subsidiary to acquire 15 units in central Illinois from Speedway SuperAmerica. The deal is expected close by the end of April, the companies said. Couche-Tard, which has been rumored to be nearing a much [...]
In hopes of appealing to the growing light-duty diesel market, Chevron Corporation has begun rolling out a pilot program offering "fine-tuned" diesel fuel at 48 Sacramento-area gas stations in the next few weeks. The sale of light-duty diesel passenger cars is expected to grow by 12 percent within the next seven years, as more fuel-efficient [...]
Hunt Brothers Pizza has added its first pizza shop to the state of Colorado with the grand opening of a shop inside Stop ‘n’ Save convenience store in Gypsum. The East Coast-based pizza chain now has 6,000 locations in 27 states. The Gypsum Stop ‘n’ Save will play host to a two-hour live radio show [...]
Wawa Inc. this week begins its new dinner deals campaign where customers can choose any dinner item for $3.99, or a combination of three items for $9.99. The on-the-go service marks the company’s official foray into dinnertime offerings at its 570 stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. The campaign is expected to [...]
Fresh & Easy, the U.S. subsidiary of UK supermarket powerhouse Tesco, announced this week it will begin accepting American Express cards at its 59 stores in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada. Analysts said last week that Tesco’s Fresh & Easy chain–a $2 billion undertaking that began five years ago–was missing sales targets by up to [...]
A Wichita, Kan., man who sold various products to convenience stores and gas stations was fined $20,000 for failing to keep an adequate record of about 30 cases of products containing ephedrine, the Wichita Business Journal reported. Gary Shively’s business, S&S Distributors, was hit with the civil penalty for violating the Controlled Substances Act. Ephedrine [...]
Marathon Oil Corp. said today that 16 terminals located in five Midwestern states will convert to ethanol-blended fuel by May 1. Unblended gas products will no longer be offered at any of the terminals. Seven of the terminals are in the Michigan cities of Jackson, Lansing, Flint, Bay City, Niles (South), Detroit (Refinery Rack) and [...]