s you look back over 2007, you’re feeling a vague sense of discontent. Business is sluggish. Several key employees have left. And with new competitors springing up every day, you need to be at the top of your industry. Things are not terrible, but they could be a lot better. You need to turn things [...]
Susser Holdings Corp., the parent company of more than 500 Stripes convenience stores in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, has received $640,000 in tax incentives from the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corp. and the city’s Business and Job Development Corp. With the Texas-based company’s recent acquisition of Town & Country Food Stores, Susser plans [...]
magine yourself as the store manager of a major convenience store or supermarket chain. As you are busily building a new display, you notice two customers down an aisle that are in really close proximity to each other. The customers exchange sneers and you can feel the tension between them. One of the customers bumps [...]
If I asked your employees, "What’s it like to work at your company? What kind of place is it?" their answers would largely describe your company culture. How would your employees answer? Would you like what you heard? If not, a leader’s responsibility is to change it. Some leadership teams attempt to create culture by [...]
“In a business like cigars, where unit volume is growing 10% plus year-over-year, emerging strategic thinking in convenience retail suggests that retailers can grow even faster by employing a “price-for-volume” strategy for key products.” David Bishop, partner, Willard Bishop This summer, we examined how convenience retailers could manage the cigar category differently to realize above-market [...]
You’ve certainly heard the old saying: “Our people are our greatest asset.” We all know what the phrase intends to convey, but, if you think about it, the analogy is clumsy at best. In the real world, assets are things that can be bought, sold or traded, like buildings, equipment, patents, systems and secret ingredients. [...]
C-store chain also announced Ronald Lamb will retire as an executive officer effective April 30. Casey’s General Stores Inc. said second quarter profits increased 62% to $27.7 million from $17.2 million a year ago. Sales for the quarter, which ended Oct. 31, totaled $1.19 billion, up from $1 billion a year ago. Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey’s, [...]
Convenience Store Decisions Group acquired by Harbor Communications, a publishing firm led by CSD founder Bill Donohue, Dan Ramella and Tom McIntyre. The Convenience Store Decisions Group has been acquired by Harbor Communications, the Westlake, Ohio-based publisher of Club & Resort Business. Terms were not disclosed. The deal, which includes Convenience Store Decisions magazine, CSDecisions.com, [...]
Chain recognized as top firm to work for in the state…again. Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania ranked Sheetz Inc. No. 12 on its list of 100 top companies for 2007 and the top retailer among them. The Altoona, Pa.-based convenience store chain has been given that honor for the past six years. Sheetz, which [...]
Companies frequently develop vision and mission statements about being number one in their industry, the great service they provide to customers, and their rewarding work environment. Yet more often than not, these statements are so far from reality that they become joke fodder for customers and employees alike. It doesn’t have to be this way, [...]
Career Management Survey identifies metrics for keeping key personnel onboard. Findings from a recent survey of human resources executives at retail companies point to the industry’s accelerated efforts to reduce turnover in their store management ranks, according to Career Management, the retail executive recruiting firm which conducted the study. The survey covered a range of [...]
Industry veteran to serve as Gulf Coast region vice president. PetroProperties & Finance announced the addition of Jim Ferullo as the new Gulf Coast Region Vice President. Ferullo, a 20-year petroleum industry veteran, was formally the chief operating officer of Global Energy USA, a multi-branded Florida fuels and lubricants marketer. In addition to handling regional [...]
Kum & Go, a division of Krause Gentle Corp. that operates 445 in 13 has named Brian Boettcher as director of information technology. Boettcher of Waukee, Iowa, has been with West Des Moines, Iowa-based Kum & Go for seven years and most recently held the position of director of network operations. As director of information [...]
Replaces retiring Donald Paul, Paul Siegele named vice president of strategic planning. Chevron Corp. has promoted John McDonald, the current vice president of strategic planning, to chief technology officer, succeeding Donald Paul, who will retire from the company in 2008 after more than 32 years of service. Paul Siegele, currently vice president of deepwater exploration/projects, [...]
Thomas brought in to take care of NACS Show and more. Meredith Thomas has joined NACS as its director of meetings & special events. Thomas will be responsible for many of the activities related to the convenience and petroleum association’s events, including the NACS Show, which is one of the 50 largest annual trade shows [...]