New Look for Beef Jerky

New Look for Beef Jerky

Jack Link’s Beef Jerky has teamed with Realtree Camo to offer a “snack hunters can’t go without” promotion. Through December 2010, a selection of Jack Link’s beef steak products are available in blaze-orange-colored packaging, featuring distinctive Realtree Camo patterns. The standout blaze orange packaging adds extra visibility, while the beef steak offers hunters a satisfying [...]

Premium E-Cigarette

Premium E-Cigarette

Kretek International Inc. offers a new line of CIG2O (sig-two-oh) e-cigarette products. The CIG2O rechargeable water vapor cigarette was developed in the U. S. for Kretek by Spark Industries. CIG2O e-cigarettes was successfully launched in smoke shops early in 2010. The strength of adult consumer response led to the current nationwide roll out. The initial [...]

Warming Up  to Soup Sales

Warming Up to Soup Sales

This is Foodservice 101: when the weather turns cold, consumers want warmth—often in the form of soups and hot convenience foods. Giving your consumers what they want is Convenience Store Success 101. Putting hot soups and other ready-to-go items on the menu this the fall only makes sense, and isn’t all that hard to do. [...]

Is Your Kitchen  Fully Equipped?

Is Your Kitchen Fully Equipped?

Where there’s successful foodservice programs, there’s efficient foodservice equipment, and in the convenience store industry, there’s foodservice everywhere. According to NACS’ State of the Industry numbers for 2010, foodservice provided the largest slice of the in-store gross-margin pie, at 26.35%, and was second in in-store sales only to cigarettes. As consumers contemplate what to eat, [...]

Seizing Real Estate Opportunities

Seizing Real Estate Opportunities

Prying Properties Loose   Important for retailers to understand is that commercial real estate today is an industry in transition. Its landscape is littered with landlords, if not desperate, than at least strongly motivated to make deals work.   “Things are tight,” said George Anderson, vice president of market analytics for NAI Global in Princeton, [...]

NACS CAFÉ Serves Up a  Foodservice  Education

NACS CAFÉ Serves Up a Foodservice Education

It began with a simple, yet powerful premise: Convenience store retailers, with their great locations and high customer traffic are well-positioned to capitalize on the development and execution of meaningful foodservice programs. All they need is a solid foundation of information, support, solutions and best practices to succeed. Enter Greg Parker, president and CEO of [...]

Bottled Water  Bouncing Back

Bottled Water Bouncing Back

Bottled water’s bubble may have burst the past couple of years, but retailers with private label water have done just swimmingly, and retailers are optimistic that the next 12 months will be equally strong. The packaged beverages subcategory enjoyed decades of growth, as consumers increasingly chose refreshment that fit their healthier lifestyles. From 1984 to [...]

Chevron Fuels Schools Promotion

Chevron Fuels Schools Promotion

During the month of September, Chevron’s Fuel Your School promotion, with the help of California drivers, raised $858,445 for schools in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. To participate, customers simply had to fill up their gas tanks at participating Chevron stations in Alameda or Contra Costa between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30. Chevron then donated [...]

The Fight for  Interchange Reform Continues

The Fight for Interchange Reform Continues

The long and winding road to controlling credit card fees took yet another turn on Oct. 12, 2010, when TCF National Bank, a subsidiary of TCF Financial Corp., filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Durbin Amendment, which was included in the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, also known [...]

Securing Payment Data

Securing Payment Data

The SWAT Team   During its brief tenure, the PCATS Data Security Standards committee has proven extraordinarily active, holding biweekly conference call meetings that are regularly attended by as many as 50 members. As PCATS Executive Director Gray Taylor pointed out, “These aren’t single-site operators. These are people who are in charge of security for [...]

Legacy Leadership

Legacy Leadership

  At a Glance: Rutter’s Farm Stores Rutter’s enjoys a long, proud history tracing its roots in Central Pennsylvania all the way back to 1747. The company broke ground on its first convenience store in 1967 and today retails more than 100 million gallons of fuel annually throughout Pennsylvania’s York, Lancaster, Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin and [...]

Marketing in a Digital Age

Marketing in a Digital Age

The world of marketing is fast evolving to keep pace with an influx of new technological options, and no one knows this better than Jared Sturtevant, who recently stepped into the newly created director of marketing role at Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes. In his new position, Sturtevant orders, proofs and provides artistic direction on [...]

NACS Showcases Cool New Products

NACS Showcases Cool New Products

The NACS Show’s Most Popular Cool New Products   The top new items viewed by retailers at the NACS Show include: • Disney Foodles and Crunch Pak Sliced Apples (Crunch Pak) • Ready Snax Fresh Fruit Parfaits (Ready Pac Foods) • International Delight Flavor Shots (WhiteWave Foods / Dean Foods) • f’real FRLB4 Frozen Beverage [...]

Family Express Debuts New  Corporate Headquarters

Family Express Debuts New Corporate Headquarters

Valparaiso, Ind.-based Family Express is celebrating the opening of its new corporate headquarters. The 30,0000-square-foot facility not only features offices and a fitness center, but combines its Valparaiso, Ind., and Lafayette Ind., training centers into one  cyber training center, including a fully-merchandised Family Express store, built to scale with equipment and gas pumps. The new [...]

U-PAK-IT’s Business Model  Proves Successful

U-PAK-IT’s Business Model Proves Successful

U-PAK-IT Corp., the third largest Louisiana-based c-store chain, features a unique business model that helps mom-and-pop stores unite to compete in an industry that often eats single stores for breakfast. The first U-PAK-IT store was opened in Winnsboro, La., in 1986. The company quickly grew when a number of neighborhood stores, faced with rising prices [...]