MESA, Ariz. --The staff of CSPedia, Winsight's online encyclopedia of convenience-store chains, gathers news and insights and updates the listings for the nearly 500 retailers in its database on a daily basis. CSPedia delivers a monthly summary of these reports, often news not yet announced publicly, to its subscribers.
Here is a collection of some of the news and people updates from December 2015.
People on the Move
- Casey's. Sam Billmeyer, senior vice president of logistics and acquisitions for the Iowa-based chain of nearly 1,900 stores, has announced he will retire on June 30, 2016. He joined Casey's in 1992 as risk manager and was promoted into the role of vice president of transportation in 1999. He has served as a senior vice president since 2006.
- Circle K Worldwide Franchise. Jeff Dunn is a franchise merchandise manager for Circle K and is based in the Cleveland/Akron, Ohio, area. He helps franchisees with the categories of dispensed beverages and center store.
- Empire Petroleum. Robert Spurgeon is joining Empire Petroleum Partners in January as director of merchandise and foodservice. He previously was with the Heartland business unit of Circle K, and before that was with Murphy USA. Empire operates more than 80 stores and also serves a large network of dealers.
- Family Express. Ashraf Abu-Aita, former category manager, has departed Family Express and the c-store industry. He had been with the Indiana chain since 2011 and was a buyer for candy, sweet snacks, dispensed beverages and packaged beverages.
- Gate Petroleum Co. Mary Valenza has changed responsibilities and is now handling salty snacks, lottery and tobacco for the Gate stores. She managed foodservice for the past eight years. Walter "Smokey" Waters has taken responsibility for foodservice. Gate operates more than 70 stores in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
- Giant Eagle/GetGo. Mike Merendino has responsibilities for loss prevention and Darin Goodwiler is no longer with the Pittsburgh chain of nearly 200 GetGo c-store sites. Mary Gibson is director of risk and compliance.
- Kocolene Marketing. As it exits the c-store business with the sale of its stores to Circle K, Kocolene Development Corp.'s longtime CEO, Gary Myers, has announced he is eyeing retirement in fall 2016. He will remain as chairman. He has turned the reins over to former CFO Kevin Johnson, who is the first non-family member to serve as CEO. Kocolene continues to own and operate five Fast Max small-format gasoline-only stations and five Smokers Host Discount Tobacco Stores in Indiana and Kentucky. It is also a wholesale fuel distributor.
- Kwik Chek Food Stores Inc. Paige Schumacher has joined the Texas chain as director of foodservice. She has worked in the industry previously with Amoco/BP. Kwik Chek operates about 40 stores.
- Kwik Shop (The Kroger Co.). Janice Schlange is foodservice manager of the Kwik Shop stores, a division of the Kroger Co. The company operates more than 130 Kwik Shop stores from its Hutchinson, Kansas, headquarters.
- Parker Oil Co. Inc. Brenda Jones has retired and John Kelly has assumed responsibilities as manager and buyer for Parker's two company-operated Simmons Travel Centers. The oil company also leases about 60 stores to independent operators and distributes fuel.
- Royal Farms. Dallas Wells, a longtime employee serving in human resources and training, has been named director of food and beverage for the Maryland chain's 162 stores.
- Wayne Oil Co. Terry Taylor has joined the North Carolina chain as director of convenience retail. Wayne Oil operates 14 stores branded Ballpark. Taylor previously was with GPM Investments and the VPS Convenience Store Group.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.