Longtime residents on the tobacco back bar, premium and domestic cigars, along with flavored cigarillos, have always fared well for convenience stores. But no one could have predicted just how much this other tobacco product (OTP) segment would prosper under COVID-19 restrictions. For nearly two years, cigars have produced notable profits, and it’s a trend…
Celebrating Yesway and Industry
I sat down to write this column after honoring Yesway as our 2021 Convenience Store Chain of the Year at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Show in Chicago. It felt so good to be out with the industry again and to recognize the hard work all retail chains have done these past 12…
Yesway Honored as 2021 Chain of the Year
Outstanding leadership, great stores, a distinguished brand and a commitment to treating your people with class and dignity deserves recognition, and CStore Decisions has been proud to shine a light on companies that meet these high standards for the past 32 years. Over the past two years, Yesway, now headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, has…
Top Estate Planning Considerations
Congress is planning to make a number of “adjustments” to our basic income and estate taxes, changes that will purportedly impact several commonly used estate planning strategies. That means most convenience store owners, operators, franchisees and executives should get their house in order in preparation for increased federal estate taxes. After months of proposals for…
Merchandise Your Way to a Touchdown
It’s football season, so let’s approach in-store merchandising, layout and adjacencies in the context of football. Guests entering your store most often have a primary need (goal) in mind when they arrive. It’s likely this goal falls into one of three categories — hungry, thirsty or comfort. Think of them finishing the quest to satisfy…
Do Ghost Kitchens Have a Role to Play in C-Stores?
Many people didn’t know what a ghost kitchen was before the pandemic, but now it seems the word is everywhere. COVID-19 afflicted the restaurant industry in such a limiting way in 2020, that every restaurant was a ghost kitchen for a period. Ghost kitchens are kitchens that are optimized to fulfill restaurant orders that will…
Retailers Find Packaging Solutions
C-stores are taking a closer look at their foodservice packaging today as they expand takeout and delivery options, ensuring food arrives at its final destination looking as appealing as when it left the store. Delivery was already a growing component of many foodservice programs prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the past 18 months have…
Casey’s Comes for Breakfast
Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey’s, which operates more than 2,300 c-stores, recently launched an all-new breakfast lineup, featuring its Signature Handheld, Loaded Breakfast Burrito and Loaded Breakfast Bowl, coupled with a new chainwide bean-to-cup coffee program. Casey’s Vice President of Prepared Food Michelle Wickham told CStore Decisions that now is “the perfect time” for the retailer to…
Joy Almekies Joins the NAG Board
The convenience store industry continues to grow sales at record numbers, but the stakes have never been higher as convenience store owners face competition from multiple retail channels. The National Advisory Group (NAG) has been working overtime to create an environment where small, mid-sized and family-owned retailers can interact with one another and share ideas for…
Sweetening Fall Candy Sales
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has proved a double-edged sword for the candy, gum and mints category at convenience stores. On the one hand, as the pandemic added often-stressful changes to lifestyles and routines, many Americans turned to candy for an emotional pick-me-up. The National Confectioners Association’s (NCA) “2021 State of Treating Report” revealed that 77%…