Bob Evans Restaurants announced that President Roger Williams is retiring after nearly 42 years with the organization, and he’ll be replaced by two men who will split the head spot at the company. The transition will also entail other leadership changes, all of which will take effect early in February. Williams will stay on board [...]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-Nev.) and Sen. John Rockefeller, (D-W.Va.) announced that the Senate plans later today to begin work on expediting the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which could have a devestating impact on tobacco sales and profits. The bill intends to retain coverage for 6.7 million enrolled children [...]

Crescent Oil is advancing alternative fuel infrastructure through the purchase of Dresser Wayne Ovation iX fuel dispensers and the Fusion Universal Site Controller. The fuel supplier plans to implement more than 600 new dispensers throughout its more than 150 retail locations across the Midwestern United States. As a result, the sites will be able to [...]

Sheetz Inc. is aggressively pursuing local markets in West Virginia with plans to open seven or eight new stores in the Huntington and Charleston metro areas. The Altoona, Pa. chain has yet to open a store in West Virginia south of Weston, said Errin Hensley, real estate project manager for Sheetz. After 2010, Sheetz might [...]

Eight retail gas stations will pay the state more than $100,000 to end a gas price-gouging investigation launched in the wake of Hurricane Ike last September, state Attorney General Jack Conway said. Five of the stations are owned by Pilot Travel Centers LLC, which will pay $100,000 in the settlement. They are in Corbin, Williamsburg, [...]

Southern Maryland Oil has selected TelaPoint’s TelaFuel Internet software Smart Replenishment module for inventory management of its transport division, which supplies fuel to their Dash-In Food Stores and other wholesale fuel customers. Southern Maryland Oil will use TelaFuel, a browser-based application suite, to improve management of fuel purchasing, replenishment, truck logistics and invoice reconciliation operations [...]

After navigating through a tumultuous 2008 marked by a slumping economy, hurricanes, volatile fuel prices and consumer unease, CITGO Petroleum Corp. said it will roll out enhanced brand programs that will continue to grow positive awareness and increase brand strength throughout 2009. This package of initiatives and programs will allow CITGO to further enhance its [...]

Susser Holdings Corp. will standardize Xflo fuel meters in Ovation dispensers at new Stripes LLC convenience store and retail fuel locations. The Xflo meters will help Stripes sites in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico reduce the cost of fuel lost to meter drift, a considerable expense that can be as much as tens of thousands [...]

Atlas Oil Co., Taylor, Mich., said it has completed its purchase of 57 convenience stores from BP Products North America in Chicago and it will begin supplying the sites immediately. The locations in the South Chicago Suburbs are a mix of company-owned and dealer-owned sites. Atlas will manage the sites from its South Bend, Ind., [...]

Cumberland Farms Inc. reached deal with Aldata Solution Inc. to use its Apollo Web Publisher, a centralized merchandising collaboration platform for retail space planning. With approximately 1,000 outlets and 7,000 employees, Cumberland Farms will use Web Publisher to manage and distribute planograms, reports and merchandising information at each retail outlet to ensure greater levels of [...]

Quick Chek, the Whitehouse, N.J.-based operator of nearly 120 fresh food store locations throughout New Jersey and southern New York, said today first quarter same store sales (Nov. 1 – Jan. 19) in the coffee and hot breakfast categories are up, and gaining a steady increase. Quick Chek’s coffee same store sales rose by 10% [...]

Kum & Go LLC announced several sale-leaseback deals to assist in the construction of new stores. Since the West Des Moines, Iowa-based company adopted the strategy three years ago, it has sold and leased back 45 of its 431 stores, Chief Financial Officer Craig Bergstrom said. Up to 75% of new and remodeled stores will [...]

It was a tough first quarter for United Refining, but the Warren, Pa.-based refiner-marketer remains optimistic it will have a strong second quarter. Net sales for the three months ended November 30, 2008 were $770.5 million, a $76.9 million increase over the $693.6 million reported for the same period in 2007. The 11.1% rise in [...]

The Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards (PCATS) and Loyalty 360, the Loyalty Marketer’s Association (Loyalty 360) are partnering to help continue member development in loyalty marketing practices. PCATS petroleum marketers, convenience store owners/operators and other retail channels will benefit from Loyalty 360’s unbiased, market driven "voice of customer" focused clearinghouse and think tank for [...]