At York, Pennsylvania-based Rutter’s for more than five years, Adam Long is responsible for P&L management of assigned categories/offerings alcohol, tobacco, lottery, and serves as consultative partner to executive management on development of corporate strategy, annual business plans and marketing programs and processes.
Rutter’s is No. 78 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
Long was a small chain finalist for the alcohol category in CSP’s 2025 Category Manager of the Year (CMOY) awards.
This year's CMOY awards featured 14 winners across seven categories. Winners from both small (99 or fewer stores) and large chains (100 stores or more) were selected for the first time in each category.
Click here to see the 2025 CMOY winners.
Here is a Q&A from Long's conversation with CSP.
What specific adult beverage segments and specific brands proved to be impactful to drive the fortunes of the category?
Each of the segments has a role as part of the larger portfolio strategy. With that said, 2024 brought regulatory changes in Pennsylvania which have enabled convenience retailers to offer RTD [ready-to-drink] cocktails to our customers. This has certainly been an exciting addition and has been the growth driver to the overall alcohol category.
What aspects of this category keep you motivated on a daily basis?
Alcohol, as a category, is one that brings regular innovation, and that innovation breathes continuous life into the category. Staying in front of the category evolution is certainly a challenge that requires constant engagement, which I enjoy. Beyond that, we’ve built strong relationships/partnerships with our supplier and distributor community that make managing the category even more rewarding.
What have been some of your most vexing challenges in 2024 and into this year pertaining to the category?
I continuously judge my success by benchmarking my performance against my trading area and national KPIs [key performance indicators]. Consumer purchasing power has continued to be pressured over the past couple of years, which has required the development and optimization of much more complex pricing strategies in the category. It has been challenging, but the extra effort and complexity has paid off.
What impactful consumer purchasing trends from last year are you looking to take advantage of even further in 2025?
There have been clear shifts in purchasing patterns, as related to pack size and ABV [alcohol by volume] and based on consumption occasion. Leveraging those shifts has been pivotal in optimizing category performance and is something that will continue to be a success factor in 2025.
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