Atlas Oil Co. has purchased substantially all of the Assets of the Hadi Group Distributors Inc., Hadi Petroleum Transporter Inc., C & H Land Co. LLC, Fordson Consumer Center Inc. and A & G Land Co. LLC (The Hadi Cos).

Atlas purchased the assets via a §363 sale under the United States Bankruptcy Code. The sale includes the purchase of 20 retail gas station sites and up to 50 retail fuel supply contracts that are predominately branded Marathon and Speedy. The sites are located throughout the Metro Detroit area.

“Our goal is to help our newest customers rebuild their business and recapture lost volume,” said Sam Simon, CEO and owner, Atlas Oil Co. “We understand the struggles they have been through and welcome them to the Atlas family.”

Atlas began supplying some of the sites this week and will continue to ramp up supply at many more locations in the coming days.

“Atlas Oil has a long history in the retail gas station business and we are pleased that we can use our expertise to help bring these 20 retail sites back to profitability,” said Michael Evans, executive vice president, retail and real estate. “We will work with existing store managers and personnel to ensure that the sites have a plan to improve their operations and restore their viability in the community.”

Atlas launched its Earth Market brand of convenience stores in the Chicago market in 2013 and also supplies fuel to nearly 400 gasoline convenience stores throughout Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

The post Atlas Oil Acquires Hadi Group Assets appeared first on Convenience Store Decisions.

United Supermarkets, LLC, opened its newest freestanding convenience store today following a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its United Express location in Borger, Texas.

The 2,400 square-foot store is located southwest of the company’s United Supermarkets location, on Hwy. 136. Store hours at the convenience store will mirror that of the main store: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

The opening of the “c-store” created 13 new jobs for the Borger community.

The Borger location is the company’s sixth freestanding convenience store: three under the United Express banner and three still under the Taste of Market Street name, all of which will be converted to United Express in the coming months. A seventh location is scheduled to open July 3.

The new location features a drive-thru window offering specialty coffee and tea service using the company’s own popular Arriba brand. A full line of made-to-order coffees and tea—including lattés, smoothies and frappes—is available both inside the store and via the drive-thru.

“Whether it’s grabbing a hot latté in the morning, or a bag of ice and gallon of milk on the way home, our Borger guests are truly going to enjoy the drive-thru experience,” said Tandy Arrant, convenience business manager for United Supermarkets LLC.

The convenience store also includes a five-pump (10-dispenser) fuel station offering both gasoline and diesel. In addition to traditional convenience items (fountain drinks, grab-and-go packaged food, propane tank refills, etc.), it also offers a wide assortment of “fresh to-go” items made inside the main store, including breakfast burritos and hot sandwiches, along with fresh fruit, f’Real milkshakes and other frozen beverages.

The store opening is the first of two major projects on the United agenda for Borger in 2013. A “refresh” of the main store is scheduled to begin in the coming weeks.

United Supermarkets LLC is a Texas-based, family-owned grocery chain with stores in 30 markets across north and west Texas.

The post United Supermarkets Cuts Ribbon On New Convenience Store appeared first on Convenience Store Decisions.

High’s of Baltimore operates 51 locations in Maryland under the name High’s of Baltimore. High’s has launched a new rewards program accompanied by a new branded Website with individual pages for each location, and the free High’s mobile app available across all platforms.

The app showcases updated gas prices, locations, in-store promotions, and more.  Customers can also send feedback from their mobile phone, review job postings, and receive time-sensitive electronic mobile coupons.

“High’s Rewards is a whole new avenue customers can take to connect with our brand, both inside and outside of our stores,” said Jason Cole, marketing coordinator of High’s. “By continuing to provide greater value inside our stores and now adding greater value at the pump, OpenStore has allowed us to gain an overall greater and more loyal customer base than we have ever had.”

“We help our clients identify new opportunities, make choices between those opportunities and optimize their customer experiences to attain and sustain market leadership,” said Jason Toews, co-founder and CEO of OpenStore by GasBuddy. “OpenStore is a complete turnkey social technology solution that will support the High’s of Baltimore strategies to reach their customers with targeted marketing and powerful messaging.”

The High’s brand is a subsidiary of the Carroll Independent Fuel Company, a 105 year old, family owned, Baltimore based supplier of motor fuel products.

The post High’s Launches With OpenStore by GasBuddy appeared first on Convenience Store Decisions.

By Erin Rigik, Associate Editor.

While electronic cigarettes are gaining a lot of attention, smokeless tobacco sales are chugging along with brisk sales.
Overall, smokeless sales jumped 6% to $4.93 billion for the 52 weeks ended April 21, 2013, according to SymphonyIRI Convenience All Scan data. Unit sales were up 3.52% to 1.23 billion for the same period. The average unit price remained relatively flat at $3.99, a modest $0.09 increase from last year.        

Chewing tobacco/snuff, according to SymphonyIRI, rang up $4.76 billion in dollar sales, a 6.02% increase, while unit sales totaled 1.18 billion, a 3.6% increase. Average unit price was $4.02, up $0.09.

SymphonyIRI found spitless tobacco unit sales for the 52 weeks ended April 21, 2013 were $175.83 million, a 5.51% increase. Unit sales totaled 51.16 million, up 1.64%. The average unit price totaled  $3.44, up $0.13 over last year.

Discount Driven
David Bishop, managing partner of Balvor LLC, noted that smokeless continues to grow year-over-year in single digits, primarily driven by canned volume growth.
“All the smokeless growth happening in two areas: discount and portion pouches,” said Bishop. “When we look at the category by segment, low-priced products like Grizzly, Husky, Kayak, are growing above the category average.”

While this trend is driven by the new normal of cash-strapped customers, it’s also being driven by quality as the value segment offers better quality products today than in the past.

“Trends in the moist snuff business are pointing to the mid-tier price points represented mainly by Grizzly,” said Steve Monaco, director of category management, Tedeschi Food Shops, which operates more than 190 convenience store locations throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
The smokeless category continues to experience growth year after year at Tedeschi Food Shops, based on the c-store chain’s decision to double the space it allocates to other tobacco products (OTP). “The smokeless category is up for us so far this year, but customers are looking for deals,” Monaco said, echoing Bishop’s analysis. “Each of the manufacturers has discount products readily available.”

Meanwhile, portion pouches are growing three times faster than the overall category, Bishop pointed out. “If the category is up in the mid-single digits, portion pounces are up in the middle teens on a can basis,” he said. “It’s a more socially acceptable product, it’s easier to use and it’s cleaner. Most brands offer that in a variety of flavors now, so whether it’s premium or discount, the portion pouches are everywhere in those price segments.”

Retailers looking to grow their business, therefore, are reallocating assortment space to accommodate lower-priced smokeless products, as well as removing some of the traditional loose-leaf tobacco and bringing in more portion pouches as a percentage of SKUs offered, if they’re not able to expand the space.

Price Structure Changes
The defining lines of the price-tiered structure in smokeless is changing as well, Bishop said. The premium segment, like Skoal and Copenhagen, is now appealing to value-minded customers with price value sub-brands, such as Skoal Xtra, at a discount of the premium price of almost 35%.

“They’ve taken a premium brand, made new SKUs in that brand architecture and priced them at the value level. That’s what is driving the growth for the premium segment. It’s argued we should have a premium discount segment. But that reflects the growing demand from consumers for the more discount related products,” Bishop said.

Price inflation is returning to the category, which is a positive for retailers. “Last year, we had price deflation in 2012 compared to 2011. In 2013 we’re starting to see low single digit increases in the average weight in price and that’s as the price value segment starts to raise their prices and takes pressure off the premium segment, closing that gap slightly between the tiers,” Bishop said.

Competition Creeping In
As e-cigarettes soar in popularity, the effect on smokeless is yet to be determined. “E-cigarettes are sourcing their volume from somewhere, and I think everyone agrees it’s a combination of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco,” Monaco said. “Regulations and taxation aren’t currently in place on e-cigs, and as a consequence they are in an advantageous position because they cost less and are able to be used in places traditional cigarettes cannot. They offer some of the same benefits as smokeless plus some of the same features as cigarettes, so they reach a wider base.”

Retailers wishing to maintain strong smokeless sales through 2013, would be advised to grow their assortment in portion pouches. “If chains are able to expand space, they can add SKUs, but since most are limited they need to free up some space to introduce some of the higher growth-driven portion pouches across segments—not just in premium, but price discount products as well,” Bishop said.

At the same time, Bishop noted, the discount segment—whether premium discount or low-price value discount—is the other growth segment in the category. Savvy c-store retailers are satisfying this consumer demand with a broad range of products to meet this need. “This trend puts a lot of pressure on premium and mid-tier products,” Bishop said. “We’ve found that what used to be considered niche has evaporated and moved to premium and become ‘premium discount’ or moved to become straight discount. We almost are moving toward a more two-tier pricing architecture.”

Tedeschi Food Shops keeps smokeless sales strong by updating planograms twice a year to include new items across the entire OTP category. When it comes to product placement, the chain makes sure its smokeless items are as close to the checkout area as possible. Lastly, it provides store operators with a list of the top sellers in the smokeless category within their market area, Monaco said.

SNUS or Lose
Snus, meanwhile, has been relatively flat on a volume basis. “Reynolds and Swedish Match have both done a good job bringing a product to market that the consumer likes,” Bishop said, “Reynolds has done a great job building distribution of Camel Snus, which is the market leader, although when General is in distribution in the same stores as Camel, it performs quite well. So retailers have to look at their market to see what their consumers are demanding, and work with their distributors to see what’s strong in that market. Make sure you have the right product for that segment because it is growing, but not in a uniform fashion.”

Regulations Ahead
Most state taxes on the table in relation to smokeless are weight based taxes. “About 12-15 states use weight-based taxation, which generally levels the playing field for the premium segment and helps reduce the price gap with the discount,” Bishop said. “However, the vast majority of the states still use an ad valorem tax (“according to value” tax), which taxes the product based on the value, and that disadvantages the premium segment because those products carry a higher cost, so they’re taxed at a higher rate.”

The movement therefore to move to a more weight-based tax has the backing of many manufacturers. While proposed federal regulations are threatening to raise excise taxes on tobacco products across the board effective January 2014, one comfort is at least such regulations would hit all locations. State-based taxes can be more detrimental for their tendency to push consumers over state lines for cheaper products. “The only counter argument is a Federal excise tax increase in states where tobacco is already really expensive, could still push people across the border,” Bishop said.

The post Deals Driving Smokeless Sales appeared first on Convenience Store Decisions.

Sheetz Inc. has partnered with Samet Corp. on the construction of a 250,000 square-foot distribution and production facility in Burlington, N.C.

Sheetz recently selected Samet as the contractor in charge of construction management for the $32.8 M center that is a cornerstone of expansion plans for the Convenience Restaurant Chain.

“We’re looking forward to partnering with Sheetz in the development of this great project,” said Arthur Samet president and CEO of Samet Corp. “It’s great to be working with a successful business like Sheetz and we’re very excited to have the opportunity to build them a top-notch facility.”

The 44-acre site will include a Sheetz Bros. Kitchen bakery, distribution and warehousing center for the Sheetz distribution fleet, along with serving as a main terminal for CLI Transport, Sheetz’ dedicated fuel carrier. Sheetz currently has 442 locations, 56 of which are in North Carolina. The company has plans to open at least a dozen more in the state over the next few years, making a Southern point of distribution a necessity.

“The new distribution center is a big component in our future growth,” said Ray Ryan, executive vice president, distribution services, Sheetz. “We are confident that this project is in the best hands with Samet leading the way. Their reputation as a ‘best in class’ firm made the choice to work with them very easy.”

This massive construction endeavor will not only benefit Sheetz, but will also serve to stimulate the local economy adding an estimated 254 Jobs by the end of 2018. Compensation will vary by job function, but the average annual payroll will be over $7.4 million plus benefits.

“The Burlington area has already provided us with an exceptional workforce,” added Ryan. “Our team at Sheetz’ main distribution center in Pennsylvania is excited to develop this new branch of the company that will only strengthen our promise to deliver the best customer service in the industry.”

“Samet is thrilled to be partnered with Sheetz on this premier project in the City of Burlington,” said Rick Davenport, president of construction at Samet Corp. “We view ourselves as part of the fabric of Alamance County, and have constructed many successful projects in the City of Burlington. We have the utmost respect for Sheetz, the City of Burlington and Alamance County, and the Samet team looks forward to doing our part to help Sheetz become a prosperous and valued part of our community. It will be a great project, and we are delighted to be able to continue to stimulate our local economy through the use of many area subcontractors.”

Construction is set to begin in early July at 1737 Whites Kennel Rd., Burlington, N.C.

The post Sheetz To Construct Distribution Center In Burlington, N.C. appeared first on Convenience Store Decisions.

U.S. retailers—led by department, drug and specialty stores—have captured the spotlight in the 2013 COLLOQUY Loyalty Census.

Department Stores achieved 70% growth in loyalty program memberships since the 2011 COLLOQUY Census, far surpassing the 26.7% rate of growth in loyalty programs across all sectors tabulated in the 2013 Census. The number of Department Store memberships is 193.9 million.

Drug Store memberships grew an impressive 45% since 2011 to a total of 142.4 million. Grocery loyalty programs, conversely, are wilting, with 172.4 million memberships that represent a 1% contraction from 2011.

Gas prices are up but memberships in fuel and convenience store loyalty programs are not. Fuel and convenience program membership plunged 21% to 25.3 million in the 2013 Census.

Memberships in Specialty Retail programs rose to 360.5 million for a 26% increase since 2011, and Specialty Retail is positioned to pass Airline programs (at 371.2 million memberships) to take second place, behind only Financial Services, in the rankings of loyalty program memberships by sector.

COLLOQUY’s latest count shows that the average U.S. household holds 21.9 memberships in loyalty programs but is active in 9.5 of those. In the 2011 Census, the numbers were 18.4 and 8.4.

The 2013 Census shows that total membership in U.S. loyalty marketing programs across all sectors is 2.647 billion, a 26.7% increase over the 2.089 billion memberships in 2011.

“As the economy slowly breathes new life, loyalty programs have gained increased awareness,” said Bulking Up author Jeff Berry, senior director, knowledge development and application at LoyaltyOne, and COLLOQUY research director. “We expect continued growth as increasingly sophisticated programs revitalize engagement with existing members and attract new participants.”

In other significant findings, the Financial Services sector has blossomed again, reaching 548.3 million memberships, representing a 27.9% growth rate over 2011.

For sheer growth, the Restaurant sector impressed in 2013, reaching 26.5 million memberships for an explosive 171% gain over 2011. Hotel loyalty memberships rose 26% to 223.6 million, Airline programs achieved a 14% gain to 371.2 million.

COLLOQUY is the research arm of LoyaltyOne, a global leader in the design and implementation of coalition loyalty programs, customer analytics and loyalty services. The COLLOQUY Loyalty Census previously has been published in 2000, 2007, 2009 and 2011.

The post 2013 COLLOQUY Census Shows Loyalty Trends appeared first on Convenience Store Decisions.

Core-Mark Holding Co. Inc., one of the largest marketers of fresh and broad-line supply solutions to the convenience retail industry in North America, announced that it will Webcast its presentation from the Oppenheimer Consumer Conference on Tuesday, June 25, 2013 beginning at 2:55 p.m. Eastern.

The live Webcast can be accessed at www.core-mark.com.  An archived replay of the presentation will be available shortly after the live event is completed and will remain on Core-Mark’s website for 30 days.

The post Core-Mark to Give Webcast Presentation appeared first on Convenience Store Decisions.

By Mark Battersby, Contributing Editor.
The so-called “Fiscal Cliff” tax bill enacted last December, the American Taxpayer Relief Act, renewed important tax breaks used by some c-stores to reduce the out-of-pocket expenditures required to keep their business premises fresh and attractive to customers.

Combine these renewed provisions, tax breaks that never disappeared, government funding, and the cost of remodeling or fixing up any retail business can be greatly reduced.

Improvements and Taxes
Under our tax rules, buildings and other so-called capital assets are generally depreciated and written off over 39 years. Those same tax rules contain a special 15-year, straight-line depreciation write-off for leasehold improvements, restaurant property and retail improvements.

As the IRS defines Qualified Leasehold Improvement Property: “Improvements to a nonresidential building’s interior (other than elevators, escalators, enlargements, structural components benefiting common areas, interior structural framework) made pursuant to a lease.” While restaurant property and the retail improvement property are more difficult to qualify for, all qualifying improved space must be occupied by a tenant or subtenant with improvements placed in service more than three years after the building was first placed in service.

Faster Remodeling Expense Write-Offs
The American Taxpayer Relief Act extended through 2013 the Tax Code’s Section 179, first-year expensing write-offs. Thus, a c-store can expense and immediately deduct up to $500,000 of expenditures in 2012 and 2013, subject to a phase-out if total capital expenditures exceed $2,000,000.

Those c-store operators and businesses with expenditures in 2012 and 2013 for qualified real property, such as land and whatever is erected on it—including the already-mentioned leasehold improvements, qualified restaurant property, and qualified retail improvement property—can elect to claim Section 179, expensing treatment for such expenditures.

The tax break that allows profitable convenience store chains, franchisees and independent grocery marketers to write off large capital expenditures immediately—rather than over time—allows 50% bonus depreciation for property placed in service through 2013.

The Code Section 179 first-year expensing write off remains a viable alternative especially for small businesses. After all, property qualifying for the Section 179 write-off may be either used or new in contrast to the bonus depreciation requirement that the taxpayer be the “first to use.”

Removing Barriers
Although the cost of an improvement to a business asset is normally considered to be a capital expense, any convenience store operation can choose to immediately write off and deduct the costs of making a facility more accessible to and usable by those who are disabled or elderly. Naturally, the convenience store business must own or lease the facility for use in connection with their trade or business.

A facility is considered to include all or any part of buildings, structures, equipment, roads, walks, parking lots, or similar real or personal property. Naturally, the c-store business cannot deduct any costs paid or incurred to completely renovate or build a facility or to replace depreciable property in the normal course of business.
When it comes to limits, the most that can be deducted as a cost of removing barriers to the disabled and the elderly for any tax year is $15,000. However, any costs over this limit can be added to the basis of the property and depreciated.

Small businesses with 30 or fewer employees or total revenues of $1 million or less can use the Disabled Access Tax Credit. Eligible small businesses may take a credit of up to $5,000 (half of eligible expenses up to $10,250, with no credit for the first $250) to offset their costs for access, including barrier removal (widening a doorway or installing a ramp, for example), provision of accessibility services (such as sign language interpreters), provision of printed material in alternate formats (including large-print graphics, enhanced audio and Braille), and provision or modification of equipment.

Writing Off Remodeling
Because a building’s components could be depreciated over a smaller number of years, depreciating the components individually usually yielded substantially higher depreciation write-offs, especially when compared to depreciating the building as a whole. Rightly or not, there were perceptions that so-called component depreciation was often used in an abusive manner, and it was ended in the mid-1980s.

However, recent court rulings, most notably the landmark Hospital Corp. of America case, validated another strategy for increasing depreciation: cost segregation. Unlike component depreciation, which focused on a building’s systems, cost segregation focuses on land and interior improvements, which have a shorter depreciation period or economic life.

Normally not depreciable, the cost of improvements, such as paving, curbs, sidewalks, signs and landscaping, can be segregated and written off. Interior improvements, all of which have shorter depreciable lives, include carpet, vinyl tile, signs, wall coverings and certain electrical and plumbing equipment.

The IRS has developed a manual to guide its auditors, the Audit Technique Guide (ATG), that clearly defines those expenditures qualifying for five, seven and 15-year depreciable lives. Using the IRS guided method in the ATG provides a safe harbor for taxpayers.

Build-Outs and Building Improvements
Many landlords offer turnkey construction of leasehold improvements. Whether the space planning and construction is provided by the landlord or the tenant, there is a construction allowance generally available to the tenant. When the tenant builds out its own space, the landlord will generally pay a specified amount of money toward the construction.

Most commercial office building leases call for turnkey construction, whereas retail and industrial leases may tend toward the tenant having the work done. Often overlooked is the fact that build-outs are not limited to the original lease. Negotiating the extension or renewal of a lease can, and often does, include build-out allowances or other amounts to remodel, re-finish or otherwise update the business premises.

Overlooked Fixing-Up Funding
When it comes to financing remodeling, every convenience store operator and executive should keep in mind that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) doesn’t do much lending. Rather, they guarantee the repayment of loans made by a financial institutions thereby lowering or reducing the institution’s risk and, in most cases, the amount of interest charged the borrower.

The SBA’s primary and most flexible 7(a) Loan Program is designed for both start-up and existing small businesses, and involves government-backed guarantees for amounts loaned for general business purposes. The SBA’s CDC/504 Loan Program provides long-term, fixed-rate financing to acquire fixed assets (such as real estate and equipment) for expansion or modernization. Rather than commercial lending institutions, 504 loans are delivered via CDCs (certified development companies)—private, non-profit corporations set up to contribute to the economic development of their communities.

Both tenants and owners can take advantage of tax breaks, especially the recently passed American Taxpayer Relief Act, to help reduce the out-of-pocket expenses of sprucing-up retail spaces. The shorter depreciable life for leasehold improvements, which might also qualify for the first-year, Section 179 expense deduction, or the 50% bonus write-offs substantially reduce out-of-pocket expenditures necessary to fix-up or improve a convenience store. Don’t forget many of those tax breaks will disappear at the end of 2013, and professional assistance may be necessary.

The post Retail Improvements with Help From Uncle Sam appeared first on Convenience Store Decisions.

7-Eleven and TSC Lending Group have sued 7-Eleven franchisee Balraj Chopra, his wife Neelam Chopra and Chopra Holdings Inc., for allegedly committing RICO fraud, breach of contract, unfair competition and trademark infringement, noted CourtHouse News Service.

7-Eleven sought $500,000 in damages through the lawsuit, as well as an order that the defendants vacate their stores and deliver possession of their stores to 7-Eleven.

The Chopras, of Granada Hills, ran three 7-Eleven stores, in Southern California, including in Sepulveda, Van Nuys and San Fernando.

The suit claimed the Chopras ran a “cash business,” stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars by making false entries in the cash register when customers bought merchandise with cash. The false entries, which included using non-sale cash register keys, masked the actual sales transactions, allowing defendants to keep the cash for themselves, the complaint states, CourtHouse News Service reported. The fraud was discovered thanks to the excessive use of these register keys in the stores’ electronic journals.

“The essence of the schemes was to utilize various devices to effect unreported merchandise sales, the proceeds of which were used to pay for merchandise in cash, for purchases which were not reported to 7-Eleven, with the significant balance going into the pockets of defendants and their co-conspirators,” 7-Eleven stated in the complaint.

The Chopras allegedly then used the unreported cash they got from customers to buy more inventory, which they failed to report to 7-Eleven.

“By way of example only, a review of the stores’ transactions during the 10-month period May 1, 2011 through Feb. 28, 2012, show that reported purchases exceeded reported sales in multiple categories, such as non-carbonated beverages, candy, health and beauty care (HABC), and tobacco, by more than $28,000. Inasmuch as merchandise does not multiply by itself on the shelves, the explanation for this significant discrepancy cannot be benign,” the complaint stated

“During the same time period, defendants’ reported sales in certain categories of merchandise at the stores have been significantly less (by more than $100,000) than reported purchases, and the magnitude of these shortages cannot be explained by employee or customer theft,” said 7-Eleven as quoted by CourtHouse News Service. 

7-Eleven terminated the Chopras’ franchise agreements and demanded that they return the stores and all property in them, but the Chopras refused to vacate and surrender the formerly franchised 7-Eleven stores. Defendants also continue to use 7-Eleven’s trade names, trademarks, service marks and trade dress, the complaint stated.

Update: A settlement was reached on June 6, and and the lawsuit was dismissed. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.

The post 7-Eleven Sues Franchisee For Fraud appeared first on Convenience Store Decisions.

The CITGO Fueling Good Road Trip is making a pit stop at the locally owned C-Stop CITGO station at 101 Waubonsee Drive in Plano, Ill. on Friday, June 14.

Between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., community members are invited to visit the station while Adam and Diego, the Fueling Good Road Trip Guys, and Big Rig Books, a non-profit mobile literacy outreach program, engage with customers and visitors.

“Fueling Good is the perfect motto for what we do on a daily basis here in Plano,” said Rocky Zaiter, general manager for several local CITGO stations supplied by Parent Petroleum. “This event will be a great way to interact with our loyal customers, and we’re so happy that Adam and Diego will be here to celebrate with us. We’re honored that CITGO and Parent Petroleum invited us to participate, and we’re also so grateful to Big Rig Books for making the effort to visit our station.”

Throughout the event, Adam and Diego will be washing windows and pumping gas for customers. In addition, customers who fill their tank during the event will receive a free fountain drink or coffee. Big Rig Books will also be giving out free books to children in the community.

“One third of fourth graders in the Chicago area have reading skills that fall below statewide expectations, and often have little or no access to books,” said John Gervase, founder of Big Rig Books. “Reading is such an important indicator of a student’s future academic success, which is why it’s so important to make books available to our children. We look forward to partnering with CITGO and Parent Petroleum for this great event, and we’re honored to be Fueling Good in Plano.”

Big Rig Books is a non-profit mobile literacy outreach initiative focused on fostering recreational reading beyond the classroom by encouraging reading and providing books for children and families in economically challenged, underserved communities and under performing schools.

The post CITGO Fueling Good Road Trip To Visit C-Stop CITGO appeared first on Convenience Store Decisions.