Toronto-based Loblaw Companies Limited is upgrading more than 750 fuel dispensers at 200 locations across Canada with Gilbarco’s FlexPay EMV CRIND Card Reader in Dispenser. The new CRIND complies with EuroPay MasterCard Visa (EMV) payment system requirements, as it handles “chip and PIN” debit and credit cards. “Gilbarco has been our preferred dispenser supplier for [...]
Oklahoma City-based Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores has named Lawrence Mantin manager of application development. In this position, Mantin will be responsible for support of back office applications, primarily .NET development for Love’s, which operates more than 200 locations in more than 30 states. Mantin joined Love’s with more than 18 years experience in [...]
Smucker’s offers a full line of distinctive portion-control products, and the opportunity to add comfort and value to any foodservice operation by displaying America’s most trusted brand of jams, jellies and preserves. customers crave comfort food in times of economic recession—food that reminds them of a simpler time and fills a psychological need for emotional [...]
Customers are standing behind their favorite convenience store employee, Cody, a chocolate Labrador recently banned from his post at a BP convenience store in Clearwater, Fla., by the state’s Department of Agriculture. Cody had long accompanied store-owner Karim Mansour to the store a couple times a week, except during a short period of time when [...]
TOP PERFORMERS PaySpot (dba epay) Coinstar HONORABLE MENTIONS Incomm First Data Prepaid services are changing the way customers do business. Low-income families, unbanked and underbanked customers, students, those with poor credit and customers that spend much of their time on the road are among those taking advantage of prepaid debit cards and bill services that [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Copenhagen (Altria Sales & Distribution/US Smokeless) Grizzley (Conwood/Reynolds America) Skoal (Altria Sales & Distribution/ US Smokel) HONORABLE MENTIONS Longhorn, Red Man and Timber Wolf (Swedish Match) Kodiak (Conwood/Reynolds America) The effect of tobacco taxation and smoking restrictions has made it much more difficult to rely on cigarette sales as the primary category for [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Altria Sales & Distribution (John Middleton) Swisher Swedish Match HONORABLE MENTIONS Altadis USA Republic Tobacco The SCHIP tobacco tax rates that hit in April 2009 are costing cigar smokers more, but sales continue to persevere. As of April, the federal taxes on large cigars rose from 20.719% of the wholesale price with a [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Altria Sales & Distribution (Philip Morris USA) R. J. Reynolds Lorillard HONORABLE MENTIONS Liggett Vector Natural American Spirit/Santa Fe (Reynolds American) Commonwealth Brands Despite the wild nine-month ride that saw a large federal tax increase and the Food & Drug Administration gain control over the category, cigarettes continue to dominate in-store sales, accounting [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Oreo (Nabisco/Kraft) Kellogg’s/Keebler Chips Ahoy (Nabisco/Kraft) HONORABLE MENTIONS Bon Appetit Mrs. Freshley’s (Flowers Foods) Prairie City Bakery Sweet snacks purchases are on the rise at convenience stores creating new sales opportunities across all dayparts. Packaged sweets accounted for 2.6% of the $114,010 stores acquired through average monthly sales in 2008, according to the [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Frito Lay Cheez-It (Kellogg’s) Chex Mix (General Mills) HONORABLE MENTIONS Combos (Mars) Cape Cod (Lance) Pringles (P&G) The down economy has inspired a consumer trend toward eating in and choosing less expensive home-entertainment options, which has been a boost to the salty snacks category. Customers are likely to choose snacks they perceive as [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Slim Jim (ConAgra) Old Wisconsin Sausage HONORABLE MENTIONS Old Trapper Smoked Products World Kitchens Oberto Sausage Flavored products from hot and spicy to teriyaki and smoked are driving the meat snacks category as customers look for new varieties of their favorite snacks. Stick sales are reportedly up, and as [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Hershey’s Mars HONORABLE MENTIONS Nestlé Ghirardelli While the current recession has slowed down sales of everything from cars to organic groceries, people seem happy to keep shelling out for chocolate, and convenience store owners couldn’t happier. Chocolate is one of the more recession-resilient food sectors. With consumers eating out less and eating at [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Wrigley Cadbury Adams Hershey’s HONORABLE MENTIONS Farley & Sathers Just Born Perfetti Van Melle According to the 2009 NACS State of the Industry report (SOI), the confections category in a typical convenience store contributes $44,820 to sales and $21,336 in gross margin dollars, for an average gross margin of 47.6%. Top performers in [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Tyson Brakebush Broaster HONORABLE MENTIONS Chester’s Chicken Krispy Krunchy Pilgrims Pride Chicken’s economical price and inherent flexibility gives convenience store retailers a myriad of opportunities for growing their foodservice business without sacrificing quality and value. More importantly, chicken offers retailers a host of branded and unbranded options for creating everything from a fresh [...]
TOP PERFORMERS Oscar Mayer (Kraft) Ball Park (Sara Lee) Hillshire Farms (Sara Lee) HONORABLE MENTIONS Ruiz Food Products Johnsonville Sausage Don Miguel Roller grills, the backbone of many convenience store foodservice programs, continue to provide chains with an inexpensive, labor-friendly foodservice concept that allows store operators to expand their fresh food offering at a time [...]