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CSP Names 2025 Category Manager of the Year Finalists

Voting opens across 7 categories; Retailers from Pilot Co., Circle K, La Lomita, Dash-In, OnCue, Weigel’s and more nominated
CMOY 2025
Image/CSP

CSP is proud to announce the finalists in its 2025 Category Manager of the Year (CMOY) Awards, nominated by the convenience-store community. These are the best of the best from small, midsize and large chains across the United States. Finalists represent a wide range of c-store chains from Pilot Co. to Circle K and Dash-In to Weigel’s. 

And, for the first year, finalists in each category are broken into two segments—large chains (100 stores or more) and small chains (99 stores or fewer). The seven categories are behind the counter, center store, dispensed beverages, foodservice, loyalty + tech/operations, nonalcohol and alcohol. 

Between now and Jan. 31, CSP is asking supplier partners to cast their votes to recognize the c-store industry’s finest category managers. The category managers who receive the most votes in each chain-size bracket will be the winners. Winners will be announced during the 2025 Convenience Retailing University conference, to be held Feb. 24-26 in Nashville. The 14 winners will be featured in a special section of CSP magazine’s April issue.

To vote for the winner, click here. Only c-store suppliers, not retailers, may cast a vote. See the "Frequently Asked Questions" section below the finalists for more information on the nomination and voting process. 

  • See our 2024 Category Manager of the Year winners here.

The 2025 finalists for Category Manager of the Year are:

Behind the Counter 

Large chain

Eddie Long, Pilot Co.

Kraig Knudsen, Circle K

Matthew Stroupe, QuikTrip

Small chain 

Anna Bettencourt, Yatco

Chris Stevenson, OnCue

Michael Murphy, Atlantis Management Group

Center Store 

Large chain

Gary Evans, OXXO USA

Thomas Rogers, Wawa

MJ Simons, OXXO USA

Small chain 

Corey Stump, Childers Oil Co./Double Kwik

Kathy Williams, Campbell Oil Co./ Minuteman Food Mart

Shawn Holmes , R.L. Jordan Oil Co./Hot Spot

Dispensed Beverages

Large chain

Furnell Mackey, Majors Management/MAPCO Express 

Shauna Seidenberg, EG America 

Yarelis Benitez, Murphy USA

Small chain 

Joe Brumfield, La Lomita 

Josh Campbell, The Wills Group Inc./Dash In

Matthew Rogers, OnCue

Foodservice

Large chain

Kate Weisman, EG America 

Kevin Dixon, Circle K

Joseph “Tony” DeSerto, RaceTrac

Small chain 

Sherryn Diamond, High's of Baltimore

Jeff Hagans, The Spinx Co.

Jamie Kennedy, Weigel's

Loyalty + Tech/Operations

Large chain

Marc Miles, bp/TravelCenters of America

Joey Low, CITGO Petroleum

Jesse Schradle, Murphy USA  

Small chain 

Abigail Cerra, Chestnut Market

Jessica Starnes, Weigel's

Benjamin Hoffmeyer, TXB Stores 

Nonalcohol Beverages

Large chain

Tim Schuster, Murphy USA

Terry Messmer, Tri Star Energy

Mary Valenza, Gate Petroleum

Small chain 

Armin Hadziomerovic, Houchens Food Group

Scott Estrella, Atlantis Management Group

Seth Carter, OnCue

Alcohol  

Large chain

Mark Buonomo, Global Partners LP/Alltown Fresh

Kelsey Capellino, United Pacific

Jackie Pfeiffer, Circle K

Small chain 

Adam Long, Rutter’s

Farris Jamal, Chestnut Market

Nick Triantafellou, Weigel's

Frequently Asked Questions 

How were the finalists determined? 

Retailer, supplier and wholesale partners could submit their nominations for the industry’s best category managers through Dec. 13. Anyone could make a nomination. Separate nominations were made for a category manager from a chain with 99 or fewer stores and a chain with 100 or more stores. Store counts were determined by using CSP’s 2024 Top 202 list of largest c-store chains by U.S. store count.

After nominations closed, the six finalists in each category with the most votes, three finalists for smaller chains and three finalists for larger chains, moved on to the final round of voting. CSP editors vetted the finalists before moving on to the final round.

How can I nominate someone next year?

In November, CSP will post a story and voting link for the c-store community to make their nominations for the 2026 Category Manager of the Year awards. The best way to stay up to date on this is to subscribe to CSP’s Daily News and Breaking News email alerts here: https://www.cspdailynews.com/subscribe-all-newsletters 

Who can vote for the winners?

Only supplier partners may cast votes for the final round—not retailers. There will be two winners for each category, determined by who receives the most votes for retailers with 99 stores or fewer and retailers with 100 or more stores. CSP editors will review the votes to make sure the winners are in the appropriate category and store-count range.

Please only vote for one finalist in each section. 

When and how can I vote for the winners?

Voting is open through Jan. 31. To vote for the winner, click here.

When will I find out if I’ve won?

Winners will be announced and recognized at Convenience Retailing University (CRU), which will be held Feb. 24-26 in Nashville.

How do I attend Convenience Retailing University (CRU)?

Visit this page for more information: https://informaconnect.com/convenience-retailing-university/.

If I am a 2025 CMOY finalist, do I need to do anything?

You should have already received an email from a CSP staff member if you are one of the 2025 CMOY finalists listed above. If you did not receive an email, please contact CSP Senior Editor Hannah Hammond at hannah.hammond@informa.com

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.

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