Do you work with bright up-and-coming young executives or next-generation leaders who are under 40 years old? CStore Decisions and the Young Executives Organization (YEO) are now taking nominations for our 2023 class of 40 Under 40 C-Store Leaders to Watch. Help CStore Decisions and YEO identify the industry’s top next-generation leaders. Nominees must be…
Summer Product Roundup
Erin Del Conte, editor-in-chief, CStore Decisions, reviews three new products, including Ocean Spray Snack Medley in Blueberry Cran, Pineapple Cran and Mango Cran; Java Monster Café Latte; and Seagram’s Escapes Spiked.
Energy North Poised for Expansion
Energy North (EN) has had its sights set on growth since Jeff Black officially took the helm as CEO in 2022. Black, the second generation of the family business, has been busy developing the company culture, growing the leadership team and expanding the company. This spring EN debuted a new flagship Haffner’s site that features…
Climbing Toward the Summit
Ten years ago this month I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, and I brought along a copy of CStore Decisions magazine for some light reading at the summit. My cousin and I made the trip together up Africa’s tallest mountain, one of the Seven Summits (which is comprised of the highest mountain on each continent). We opted…
NYACS’ Sopris Talks Tobacco Regulation and Engaging Legislators
As c-stores battle tobacco regulations, state associations like the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS) are on the frontlines with retailers working to educate legislators about how proposed laws would impact the convenience store business. Fighting tobacco legislation starts at the local level. The groups in favor of tobacco legislation are vocal opponents, and…
Spitless Tobacco Unit Sales Boosted 30.4%
Smokeless tobacco sales at c-stores continue to rise, lifted by sales of tobacco-free nicotine pouches as sales of moist smokeless tobacco dip. As they look ahead, retailers are watching flavor regulations as well as inflationary pressures that are pushing customers to trade down both within the smokeless segment and the tobacco category as a whole.…
Tobacco’s Tumultuous Road
In 2009, a few months after I joined CStore Decisions magazine (CSD), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was given the authority to regulate tobacco products when the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was signed into law that June. That August it launched the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). In the 14 years…
Pilot Prioritizes a ‘Culture of Inclusion’
Pilot Co. serves more than 1.5 million customers each day with help from its nearly 30,000 team members. Over the past 15 months, Pilot has increased its focus on improving its team member experience across policies, procedures and the environment, which has included developing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. CStore Decisions caught up with…
Spicy & Sweet: Snack and Beverage Taste Test
Erin Del Conte, editor-in-chief of CStore Decisions, taste tests Chipoys rolled tortilla chips in Spicy Ranch, Original, Fire Red Hot and Chile Limon; and Reign Storm Clean Energy in Peach Nectarine, Valencia Orange, Kiwi Blend and Harvest Grape.
C-Store Transformation From Food to Tech
As I step into the role of editor-in-chief, I can’t help but reflect on how much this industry has changed since I first began writing for CStore Decisions as an associate editor in 2009. In those days, c-store retailers were focused on their core customer “Bubba,” a blue-collar, white male stopping in for cigarettes, beer…