Scott Hartman, president of Rutter's Farm Stores, said the relationship between retailers and suppliers is integral to the implementation of new technologies. By Ross Markman, Retail Relations Editor Nearly 40 years after York, Pa.-based Rutter's Farm Stores opened its first unit, the chain's current president plays as big a role as anyone in the convenience [...]
How FireKing Security’s Image Vault DVR helped Minit Stop stores alleviate the weight of internal shrink and fines from underage sales stings. By Kate Quackenbush, Managing Editor For retailers facing sub-zero winters and summers that aren’t much warmer, it’s hard to sympathize with the plight of a Hawaii-based chain that wakes up every day to [...]
Convenience retailers are building incremental sales with “gift card mall” selections from a host of local and national retail chains. Convenience retailers are building incremental sales with "gift card mall" selections from a host of local and national retail chains. By John Lofstock, Editor Convenience and grocery executives are desperately looking for new growth drivers. [...]
Kwik Trip is maximizing efficiency by combining business intelligence with energy intelligence. Kwik Trip is maximizing efficiency by combining business intelligence with energy intelligence. By Mark Kortkamp, Contributing Editor Kwik Trip Inc. was chosen "Chain of the Year" in 2004 by Convenience Store Decisions largely because people are the heart of their company, and technology [...]
Armor Safe is urging retailers to utilize their financial resources on cash management systems that help reduce internal theft and maximize employees’ time. A CSD Staff Report Missing deposits, shortages, security concerns and the time spent handling cash are constant problems for busy convenience store managers. Armor Safe understands the growing demands of today’s store [...]
Data mining and basket analysis is giving retailers an edge when going to market, while strategic partnerships keep costs down. By Kate Quackenbush, Managing Editor They have a saying at Mirabito Fuel Group: “When you attract customers with cheap gas prices, you only buy their loyalty until the next gas fill-up.” That’s the kind of [...]
Foodservice equipment-which once put the industry at a disadvantage when it came to speed and labor-now makes it possible for retailers to expand menus, reduce costs and increase food sales. By Ross Markman, Retail Relations Editor Charlie Roesch remembers his childhood in the 1950s the town of Buffalo, N.Y., dotted with slaughterhouses, the boxes of [...]
Convenience Store Decisions’ Reader’s Choice Awards honor the top performers in more than 20 in-store categories. “Honesty,” “integrity” and “committed to the industry.” These were just a fewof the glowing accolades industry-retailers had for their supplier partnersin Convenience Store Decisions‘ first annual Reader’s Choice Awards. “We consider our relationships with retail and wholesale partners to [...]
Jenny Bullard pinpoints trends that have shaped the industry and identifies new developments leading it into the future. Jenny Bullard is a portrait of the consumate professional company’s needs to grow business, and the industry as whole is benefiting. As a foremost authority on developing c-store technology solutions, Bullard has been actively involved in many [...]
Greg Hendricks thought it was just a regular day when the vice president of Taylor Petroleum breezed into the Radio Shack where he was working in 1983. He asked Hendricks if he liked working with computers, which he did, and brought him on board the company's pump maintenance team. Twenty-three years later, Hendricks' technology roots [...]
CSD survey finds marketing, communications and wireless technology are keys to unlocking future growth. By most accounts, 10 years really isn’t all that significant a span of time. But to suppliers of convenience stores, a decadeparticularly this past decadehas been monumental in the ongoing evolution of the c-store industry and the customers it serves. During [...]
John Lofstock, Editor These are strange days at Duke and Duchess Shoppes (Columbus, OH) asmore and more customers at its Ohio stores are giving employees the finger.And it's not because prices are too high or lines are too long. Rather, it'sa result of the chain's installation of cutting-edge biometric technology. Duke and Duchess, which operates [...]
This holiday season the name of the game is convenience. With that inmind, more and more consumers are putting an end to the frenzied shopping thattraditionally accompanies the holiday season. Instead, shoppers are opting forgift cards purchased at the checkout line at local grocery, drug or, yes, conveniencestores. Gift cards accounted for more than $17 [...]
Meijer Stores Inc. (Grand Rapids, MI) is the first supercenter chain to adda contactless card payment option at its gas pumps. The chain’s 150 stores thatsell gas will have more than 1,850 fueling positions upgraded with a Gilbarco(www.gilbarco.com) contactless card system. Theintegrated system is currently the only product certified by all three majorcard companies for [...]
Roughly 610,000 consumers are using Paycheck Secure (www.paychecksecure.com ), BioPay’s biometric payroll check cashing system, at more than 400 retail locations throughout California. To date, Golden State retailers have cashed more than 5.8 million checks, totaling $2.7 billion, through Paycheck Secure since its launch in 2001. An additional 57,000 individuals in Arizona, Utah and Nevada [...]