Computer hacker Albert Gonzalez, accused of one of the largest thefts of credit and debit card numbers ever reported, was sentenced to 20 years and a day in prison last Friday. Friday’s case involved stolen credit card numbers from the Scarsborough, Maine-based Hannaford Bros. supermarket chain, Dallas-based convenience store chain 7-Eleven, and Heartland Payment Systems, [...]
Walgreen Co. has received the regulatory clearance from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission needed to complete the acquisition of Duane Reade Holdings Inc. “We’re clear to move forward and complete the Duane Reade acquisition, which will immediately give Walgreens a leading position in the nation’s largest drugstore market,” said Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson. [...]
NACS has announced that former President George W. Bush will be the closing general session speaker for this year’s NACS Show, which will take place Oct. 5-8 at the World Congress Center in Atlanta. Bush will be the fourth U.S. president to speak at a NACS event: former President Bill Clinton served as last year’s [...]
Gilbarco Veeder-Root has upgraded the warranty on its standard fuel dispensers to cover use of ethanol content up to E15. The dispensers are currently Underwriters Laboratories (UL) approved for ethanol up to E10 under the UL 87 standard. The upgraded warranty will ensure its customers are covered if the current E10 standard is broadened to [...]
NACS and convenience retailers are enjoying a huge win today, thanks to enactment of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (PACT Act), which addresses the long-standing convenience store industry concern of tax evasion via remote sellers of tobacco products. Today’s White House signing by President Barack Obama caps a 10-plus year effort by retailers to [...]
7-Eleven Inc. has announced a real estate partnership with NAI Corporate Real Estate Services (NAI CRES) in the Salt Lake City market to build its presence in the area and significantly add to the nearly 100 stores the company operates, franchises and licenses in the area. The convenience retail leader selected NAI as its exclusive [...]
Vertis Communications has received five Certificates of Excellence from Graphic Design USA’s 2010 American Packaging Design Awards for its creative packaging designs for Hershey. In 2009, Hershey turned to Vertis to create innovative designs that would achieve consistent brand messaging for multiple products in various stages of retail availability and consumer acceptance. From ideation for [...]
A new U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel is examining menthol cigarettes and how the government should regulate them, although most believe an outright ban is unlikely, the Associated Press reported. The committee is meeting Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the scientific research on the public health effects of menthol cigarettes, including among children [...]
Taylor, Mich.-based Marfood USA Inc. plans to launch its new Pemmican Web site on April 1 by giving away a free bag of Pemmican Beef Jerky every minute of the day. Consumers must visit www.pemmican.com on April 1 between 12:01am and 11:59pm to register for a chance to win. “We purposely chose April fool’s to [...]
By Brian L. Milne, Refined Fuels Editor, Telvent DTN Drivers across most major metropolitan markets in the United States should see the increase in retail prices at their local outlets freeze in the week leading up to Easter Sunday, with some markets potentially seeing a decrease at the pump. The forecast is based on a [...]
Snickers is celebrating its 80th birthday this month. The candy bar, named Snickers after the Mars family’s favorite horse, has come a long way since it was first introduced in 1930 for the price of five cents a bar. It has also changed with the times, evolving into numerous sizes and formats to fit customer demand. [...]
Otis Spunkmeyer Inc. is moving three of its customer contact centers (CCC) to a new Ogden, Utah facility. A celebration Feb. 25, 2010 at Business Depot Ogden (BDO) complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony marked the dedication of the new CCC about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City. The company decided to move to accommodate [...]
On Saturday, CITGO Petroleum Corporation joined more than 70 local businesses, government agencies, universities, colleges, hotels, and museums, as well as hundreds of residents and small businesses, in observing Earth Hour 2010. Organized by the World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour took place on March 27 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Participants from 400 cities [...]
Mesa, Ariz., is taking steps to make c-stores safer. Of the roughly 100 convenience stores in Mesa, police reported 10 of them generated as many calls as the others combined, ABC 15 News reported. “It has to do with a lot of things. Where do you put your product, how you secure your product, how [...]
Michigan’s Petroleum Association and the Association of Convenience Stores held its annual spring convention and trade show last week as Michigan lawmakers considered new taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, which the group opposes, WZZM13 News reported. The convention’s educational sessions covered topics ranging from the state of health care to preventing recession theft and [...]