When stocking up on novelty items, thinking outside the box can help retailers drive big profits. By Erin Rigik, Associate Editor. Retailers are driving impulse purchases with unique novelty products, including big ticket items, seasonal displays and small ring products that make everyday life more convenient. Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc., for example, is making packing easier…
Is $4 Gallon Gasoline Coming to a Station Near You?
By Brian L. Milne, Refined Fuels Editor, Telvent DTN For some, the unpleasant reality of $4 gallon gasoline has already occurred, namely in California, where the Energy Information Administration reported in early April an average price for regular grade gasoline at $4.057 gallon. As of April 4, the EIA pegged the average for Chicago at…
CSD Partners with MSA and Paradigm Sample
In our ongoing effort to provide the most relevant and timely industry data, Convenience Store Decisions has reached a deal to serve as the excusive media sponsor of the new Convenience Consumer Insights Panel (cciPanel) launched last month by Management Science Associates Inc. (MSA) and Paradigm Sample. The cciPanel is the consumer research field’s first…
Raising the Bar on Automotive Accessories
Car care merchandise is delivering incremental sales with the help of private labels and impulse purchases. Customers have long ventured into local convenience stores to grab a bottle of windshield washer fluid or oil for their cars. Years ago, a small display would hold a few bottles of automotive fluids in case of an emergency.…
Maintaining Strong Energy Sales
It had to happen sometime. Energy drinks, arguably the most popular convenience store product in the early-to-middle years of the decade, have begun to slow their sharp rise. Call it a correction, perhaps. A report released last month on the category by research firm Mintel showed that while growth in the category from 2005-2010 was…
Cutting Down on Cooler Costs
Energy reduction remains an ongoing quest for convenience store operators as they look for ways to cut costs in an effort to improve their bottom lines. Building stores to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards and seeking LEED certification is something more chains are pursuing, including Kum & Go, Kwik Trip and Quick…
Boosting Bakery Sales
With sales of packaged bakery snacks down, the allure of fresh- or par-baked items can generate revenue in the coming year if c-store operators handle things correctly. Jim Schutz, vice president of people assets for Open Pantry Food Marts of Wisconsin, said his chain has two different bakery offerings, muffins and doughnuts, which are supplied…
Tracking the 2010 Fuel Market
Heading into 2010 there seems to be one constant in the energy markets—be it international, domestic, or local—and that is supplies should not be the issue in the New Year. This means that while demand will ebb and flow as it is want to do over the course of the calendar, barring an unforeseen change,…
Grocery Sales Going Up
Signs of the Times Overextended and anxious about the economy, consumers are responding to economic pressures by buying less, borrowing less and paying down credit card debt. The amount Americans owe on credit cards and other consumer loans plunged a record $21.6 billion in July, dimming prospects that the budding economic recovery will extend to…
New Regulations on Tobacco from the FDA
Over the past six months since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began wielding its new powers to regulate cigarettes, smokeless and roll-your-own tobacco, the implementation of the law has been anything but smooth. Even though Dr. Lawrence Deyton, the FDA’s new head of the Center for Tobacco Products, announced several times during “Listening…