This year, CSP is opening its 2027 Category Manager of the Year nominations earlier than ever before.
Now in its 12th year, the CMOY awards honor category managers who are leading by example and pushing the convenience-store industry forward.
The deadline to nominate someone is Nov. 1. Anyone can make a nomination by clicking here. The category managers who receive the most nominations will advance to the next round.
On the nomination form, you can fill out why this person deserves the award. Prospective CMOY nominees should meet the following criteria:
- Drive sales through innovative thinking with a sharp focus on data.
- Influence others within his or her company and the c-store industry.
- Have a deep understanding of their customers and markets.
- Foster meaningful relationships within the industry.
Nominees can be entered in the following categories:
- Behind the counter
- Center store
- Dispensed beverages
- Foodservice
- Loyalty + Tech/Operations
- Nonalcohol beverages
- Alcohol
Separate nominations can be made for a category manager from a chain with 200 or fewer stores and a chain with 201 or more stores. Store counts will be determined by using CSP’s 2026 Top 202 list of largest c-store chains by U.S. store count, which will be released in June.
What happens next?
The nomination period closes Nov. 1. After that, CSP editors will tally up and vet the nominations before determining who the finalists are.
To qualify as a finalist, nominees must still hold their position or work for another c-store chain as of Dec. 1.
The six qualifying category managers with the most nominations in each category—three from chains with 201-plus stores and three from chains with 200 or fewer stores—will advance to the finalist voting round.
Voting on finalists will open in early December, so check back at CSPDailyNews.com for updates. Only c-store suppliers can vote in this round.
The finalists with the most votes will win.
CSP will honor two winners in each category, one from a c-store chain with 200 or fewer stores and one from a chain with 201 or more stores. The winners will be announced at CSP’s 2027 Convenience Retailing University, which will be held March 2-4 in Austin, Texas.
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