SUPERVALU INC., through a partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), plans to cut its emissions of greenhouse gases by 10% by the end of 2012 with a baseline year of 2007. SUPERVALU’s initiative is comparable in scope to eliminating the electricity use of more than 352,000 average U.S. homes for one year. This partnership makes [...]
The company’s 2010 Sustainability Report, recently published online, shows the company has reduced overall energy consumption by more than 27%, and includes updates in four core areas: —Reducing its carbon footprint, especially by decreasing energy usage; —Eliminating and recycling waste including reducing plastic bag use; —Lowering the impact of [...]
With energy costs soaring and customers rewarding sustainable behaviors, many convenience store chains are realizing the need to upgrade stores to be more energy efficient. World marketed energy consumption is projected to increase by 44% from 2006 to 2030, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The increase could hit c-store retailers especially hard [...]
An Illinois CITGO fuel marketer became the first gas station owner in the nation to receive the Green Business League award for its efforts to reduce energy and minimize its environmental footprint. Dave Welch, president of Deerfield CITGO, began his journey toward achieving a green business in June 2009, when he and a consultant started [...]
When Towns Mart enlisted the services of Design Fabrications (DFab) to create an inviting shopping environment for a new store it was constructing in Washington Township, Mich. in 2007, the chain was looking to broaden its customer base through an upgraded design. “We were targeting female and upscale customers by trying to achieve an open [...]
Making your mark in the convenience store industry requires hard work, dedication, great people and outstanding service. Throw in three generations of family-owned leadership and a firm commitment to quality and value, and you’ll understand why High’s of Baltimore Inc. is among one of the most revered operators in its markets. “Our brand has been [...]
Savvy convenience store chains are leading the charge toward more energy efficient store equipment that both respects the environment and lowers operating costs, using everything from LED lighting and state-of-the-art cooler doors to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) buildings and clean fleet initiatives to do so. One stellar example of this trend comes [...]
Wanting to help save the world is admirable, but unless a real cost-savings can be realized convenience store operators seem to agree this economy is not the best time to be experimenting with “green” investments. The key to sustainability issues, then, is finding that balance, and that’s where several c-store chains are differentiating themselves. Scott [...]
Though gas prices have dropped significantly from a year ago, forecourt-driven sales are still a challenge for many convenience stores because people aren’t buying gas as freely as they did several years ago. The reason? Our troubled economy makes it tough for many to afford the long car trips. Fewer trips mean fewer opportunities to [...]
It isn’t often one finds a c-store with a hanging chandelier and a fireplace in the office, but Dave Carney’s Hillside Chevron Station in Torrance, Calif., is anything but conventional. This April, the store began a major renovation, transforming what was a traditional c-store into a site with charming old-world Santa Barbara style; a Spanish [...]
Savvy c-store operators know that everything in a store should be contributing to sales, including displays and fixtures. More retailers are coming to realize that display and fixture design can, if done right, provide the flexibility needed to highlight food offerings as well as dry goods products and keep the sales space fresh, interesting and [...]
Why waste anything—especially energy? Newer technologies and out-of-the-box thinking are helping trim energy costs, while plain old smart management can bring additional savings. “Most of the time, quite frankly, store operators haven’t even done the most basic stuff that could be saving them quite a bit on operating costs,” lamented John Noel, president of Energy [...]