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 Oct. 2015.
People on the Move
- Alimentation Couche-Tard. Vice president and CFO Raymond Pare has resigned. A replacement has not yet been named.
- Circle K Heartland. Gavin Zindel has been named head of the marketing team for Circle K's new Heartland business unit. Joel Unroe is a category manager for the region, handling packaged beverages. The region operates more than 300 stores in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wyoming.
- CrossAmerica Partners LP (CST Brands). Joe Topper has officially ended his tenure as CEO of CrossAmerica, which began originally as Lehigh Gas.
- Heritage's Dairy Stores. Bob Driscoll is retiring as merchandising manager at the end of 2015. Alicia Zuccarelli will be promoted to fill the position. The New Jersey chain operates more than 30 stores.
- Jacksons Food Stores. Chris Murray, formerly of Core-Mark, is leading the marketing team, which is based in Meridian, Idaho. Buying for all locations (including the Arizona sites acquired from Danny's Family Cos. and a new store in Marana, Arizona) is done at the Idaho headquarters. Jacksons operates more than 200 stores.
- Nouria Energy Corp. Joe Hamza has joined the company as COO. An industry veteran, Hamza previously was vice president of sales and marketing at Tedeschi Food Shops before it was sold to 7-Eleven Inc.
- Speedway. Some former Hess employees have transitioned to Speedway. Chris Chila and Ted Croitor are region directors, and Charles Iszard is a division project manager based in Pennsylvania. Others have moved to other companies, including Ethan Fitzsimmons to Bolthouse, and Kristy Cunningham to McDonald's.
- Valero Energy Corp. Gary Arthur, senior vice president-wholesale marketing, has announced his retirement. He joined Valero in 2000 after a 20-year career at Ashland Oil and also formerly served as vice president of supply and distribution for Colonial Group. The wholesale marketing position will be filled by Craig Schnupp, currently vice president, products supply at Valero.
In the News
- Aloha Petroleum Ltd.has acquired the Hawaii assets of MFM Inc., including two Shell gas stations, two Subway restaurants and four convenience stores, all located on the island of Kauai. Aloha operates about 50 sites on the island.
- Brother's Petroleum LLC has launched a loyalty program and has a new website under construction. The Louisiana-based chain operates 37 stores.
- The marketing team at Circle K Heartland, the new Circle K business unit, is preparing to move to renovated space on the fourth floor of its headquarters, 550 Warrenville Road in Lisle, Illinois 60532.
- Kum & Go has selected ADC C-Pack and C-Pack+ software to assist with its fresh-food program and create efficiencies. The Iowa chain operates more than 425 stores in 11 states.
- Miller & Holmes Inc., operator of 21 M&H Stores, is testing fryers and microwaves in three stores. The chain is based in Hudson, Wis., and has stores in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.
- Olympic Oil Co. is planning to add three new PetroFast stores and rebuild three existing sites. The chain, based in Gainesville, Ga., operates 12 PetroFast Food Stores.
- OnCue Express, based in Stillwater, Okla., will soon add two more CNG stations, at the OnCue Express Truck Stop on I-35 at the Billings, Mont., exit and the new OnCue Express Convenience Store on I-240 in Oklahoma City. The chain of more than 50 stores has 18 CNG locations and has made a commitment to expand fast-fill CNG fueling.
- Russell's Convenience (HJB Convenience Corp.) is planning three new sites at airports in Denver and Los Angeles in 2016. The Lakewood, Colo., company's 20 stores are located inside office buildings in Colorado, California and Michigan. There's one store at a resort in Hawaii.
- Pennsylvania-based Sheetz Inc. and its new concept store design aimed at serving college communities was featured in the NACS 2015 Ideas 2 Go. The new stores (one in Morgantown, W.Va., and one in State College, Pa.) feature 15,000 square feet, with seating for more than 100 people, plenty of outlets and USB ports for guests, made-to-order meals, as well as groceries. The stores have no fuel and no need for parking lots.
- Southern Energy Co., operator of about 20 Serv-N-Go Markets in Tennessee, is adding wine to its stores. Tennessee law was changed to allow wine sales, but not liquor, in grocery and convenience stores.
- Speedway LLC is closing about 100 Dunkin' Donuts kiosks but will remain a franchisee. The Enon, Ohio-based chain operates more than 2,700 stores across the Midwest and Northeast after acquiring the Hess and Wilcohess sites.
- Square One Markets, based in Pennsylvania, has teamed up with The Six O'Clock Scramble to develop and test family dinner kits. The all-in-one dinner kits include ingredients and instructions to prepare a fast, healthy meal for four.
- Wawa Inc., one of the largest convenience store and retail fueling chains in the Mid-Atlantic region, has partnered with South Jersey Gas to introduce CNG to the Wawa network. Their first joint project fast-fill station is scheduled at Store No. 8305 in Paulsboro, N.J. Wawa operates more than 700 stores in five Mid-Atlantic states and Florida. About 450 of the sites sell fuel.
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