Retailers looking to jazz up their candy aisle with exciting, “better for you” products can look no further than Crystal Light sugar-free hard candies, which are produced and marketed by Sorbee International via a licensing partnership with Kraft Foods. The brand announced it has added two new flavors to its popular product line. Like its [...]
On the heels of a new national advertising campaign, Bud Light will continue to invest in its defining product attribute–drinkability–with the introduction of new packaging. In March, Bud Light bottles, cans, secondary packaging and point-of-sale materials will include the words “superior drinkability” along with new coloring and design elements that work in concert to communicate [...]
Officials at Monster Energy have set sail on a new venture certain to once again take the energy drink market by storm. Bigger, badder and better tasting– everything you’d expect from the No. 1 energy drink in the U.S.–Monster Energy unveiled its latest offering to the world of instant energy needs: The new Monster Hitman [...]
Using its unique category focus and a new approach to create powerful business solutions, the Kellogg Convenience Store Team is excited to launch Cheez-It Duoz baked snack crackers to the salty snack set. With two flavors in one bag, Cheez-It Duoz baked snack crackers offer consumers the tasty crunch and bold flavor combinations they crave, [...]
When it comes to convenience stores, every square inch of selling space is precious real estate. And when the inside of a store is fully merchandised, the only place left to go is the forecourt area. Some convenience store retailers have always made good use of the forecourt area—whether or not it featured fuel pumps—to [...]
A busy salesman on the way to his next appointment pulls into a Spinx convenience store to fill up his tank. It’s almost 1 p.m. and he hasn’t stopped since his day began just before 9 a.m. While pumping fuel, he glances at the color monitor built into the gas pump. He looks closer at [...]
Security remains an ongoing concern for convenience store operators, but new technologies and approaches are offering some great help. And great help is a great asset, because there is a lot of work to be done. Bad economic times mean increases in petty theft at retail. In fact, U.S. retailers lost $34.8 billion in stolen [...]
When the economy falls off a cliff like it did in September 2008, is your business going to survive or even thrive? Most companies reacted to the downturn by cutting the usual costs: training, travel, raises, bonuses, headcount and 401(k) matching contributions. The bad news is these kinds of cuts also put employees in a [...]
Why waste anything—especially energy? Newer technologies and out-of-the-box thinking are helping trim energy costs, while plain old smart management can bring additional savings. “Most of the time, quite frankly, store operators haven’t even done the most basic stuff that could be saving them quite a bit on operating costs,” lamented John Noel, president of Energy [...]
A perfect storm of societal, legislative, retail and economic factors in 2009 appears poised to push sales of smokeless products—the fastest-growing tobacco category—higher than ever. Convenience store retailers and marketers of such leading brands as Copenhagen, Skoal, Redman, Timberwolf, Kodiak, Red Seal, Rooster, Grizzly, Husky and Longhorn have already seen a flurry of activity on [...]
This is what happens: Dad breaks to one side of the store to choose a sandwich from the Hot Spot, which he complements with a cup of hot coffee and a bag of chips. Mom heads for the cappuccino dispenser, then works her way to a fresh salad kept cool in a temperature-controlled center-island [...]
Dennis Peters has no complaints about the proprietary fresh chicken program at two of his 24 Friendship Foods stores in Ohio. It’s popular, it’s profitable and it’s been a proven concept for the past 12 years. Well, maybe there’s one complaint. It’s a little too fresh. Not “peck-you-on-the-hand-when-you-grab-it” fresh, but certainly fresh enough to see [...]
Here’s an entirely plausible scenario: At around 8 a.m. on a weekday, customers are lined six deep in front of the only open register at your suburban convenience store. The line has screeched to a halt because a deliveryman running late has flanked the clerk at the register and asked her to sign off on [...]
Think of Roady’s Truck Stops as the 350-pound lineman of the business world, a far-sighted colossus who plows path after dogged path for teammates who are trying to negotiate that riotous retail gridiron. And then, think of Roady’s President Bob Lee as the head coach, sort of the Chuck Knoll of truck stops, convenience stores, [...]
Coffee, cigarettes, beer, technology, foodservice. Pick any one of these categories, and Handee Marts President Mike Triantafellou will approach it with unbridled enthusiasm. Take cigarettes. Convenience-industry experts say cigarette sales in the near future could get bogged down, if not slain, by unfriendly legislation like the SCHIP bill, or by local governments that forbid [...]