CSP’s Most-Read Stories of 2023
By Hannah Hammond on Dec. 19, 2023A list of the Top 202 largest convenience-store chains by U.S. store count, an obituary of a beloved industry member and a story on three retailers facing theft, fraud and tax evasion chargers topped the list of CSP’s most-read stories in 2023.
Read more to see what readers clicked on the most this year. ...
2023 Top 202 list
The most-read item of 2023 was CSP’s2023 Top 202 list of largest c-stores by store count.
As usual, 7-Eleven sat at No. 1 on the list with 12,854 stores as of Jan. 1, 2023. It was followed by Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., Casey’s General Stores Inc. and Murphy USA Inc.
3 Retailers Face Theft, Fraud and Tax Evasion Charges
In September, three convenience retailers in Illinois and Indiana faced multiple counts of theft, fraud and tax evasion for allegedly underreporting more than $50 million in sales.
Roger Multani, 29, of Peoria, Illinois, and brothers Surinder (Paul) Singh, 34, and Jitender (Jay) Singh, 33, both of Indianapolis, were charged in a Peoria County Circuit Court and Sangamon County Circuit Court in the three-year scheme that produced more than $4 million in tax liability.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office alleged the men underreported more than $50 million in sales from a dozen Illinois gas stations under the corporate names of Kamla Kaur Group (KKG), RSM Management and SPM Group.
Craig Neuhoff Dies in Surfing Accident
Craig Neuhoff died on Jan. 27 in a surfing accident while on vacation in Costa Rica. Neuhoff was a familiar face in the convenience-store industry, working for in-store marketing firm GSP since 2017 and tobacco fixture company Harbor Industries for four years before that.
Neuhoff was the vice president of new business development at GSP Retail. He had a very strong knowledge of point-of-purchase graphics, displays and store merchandising within the convenience, grocery, specialty and fashion retail verticals. An outgoing presence at industry events, Neuhoff was known for his love of surfing, music and particularly his family.
"Craig was truly one of a kind. He was an industry brother to many of us, and will leave a huge void in our hearts," wrote Derek Gaskins, chief marketing officer of Yesway.
Buc-ee’s Planning 1st Virginia Location
In March, the New Kent County Economic Development Department announced that Buc-ee’s Ltd. had plans to open a new location in New Kent County, Virginia, its first in the state. Scheduled to open in 2027, it will be located along Interstate 64 at the Exit 211 interchange.
The large-format convenience-store chain known for its huge number of fueling positions; its jerky, fudge and “Beaver Nuggets”; its clean restrooms; and its beaver mascot, has 44 locations, mostly in Texas, but also throughout the South.
Cooler Screens Sues Walgreens for $200 Million Over ‘Smart’ Door Deal
Cooler Screens, a provider of digital in-store retail media and merchandising, filed a $200 million lawsuit against Walgreens, claiming the drug chain backed out of an agreement to roll out its Smart Doors technology to some 2,500 stores.
Chicago-based Cooler Screens filed the breach-of-contract suit June 7 in Illinois Circuit Court for Cook County and publicly announced the action on June 8. The technology company—co-founded by Greg Wasson, former Walgreens president and CEO and current Cooler Screens chairman—developed what it calls “the world’s first ‘smart’ cooler doors,” which display images, information and third-party advertising about the products inside refrigerated and freezer cases.
EG Group to Sell Off U.S. Retail Assets?
Reports of EG Group selling off its U.S. retail assets resurfaced in January 2023, nine months after it was first suggested that the U.K. retailer would merge with another international convenience-store giant.
The Blackburn, U.K.-based parent of c-store retailer EG America hired real estate investment bank Eastdil to explore the disposal of a package of its operations in the United States and to lead any sale process, according to a report by Sky News. The news followed an April 2022 report that suggested EG Group was in negotiations to merge with Laval, Quebec-based rival global c-store company Alimentation Couche-Tard.
EG Group owners Moshin and Zuber Issa and private equity firm TDR Capital LLP were contemplating a $1.24 billion sale of part of their American c-store network, which the news outlet described as “several parcels of assets” as part of efforts to reduce the company’s multibillion pound debt.
Sources told Sky News that any transactions would likely be structured as sale-leaseback deals. In March, EG Group agreed to the sale-leaseback of a portfolio of its sites on the U.S. East Coast to Realty Income Corp. for approximately $1.5 billion. This portfolio, which EG America will continue to operate and trade, consists of 415 c-stores under the Cumberland Farms, Fastrac, Tom Thumb and Sprint banners.
7-Eleven to Pay $91 Million in Car-Crash Lawsuit
7-Eleven will pay a man $91 million—the largest pretrial recovery ever for a person injured in Illinois—after he was crushed by a car in front of one of the chain's stores outside Chicago.
The 57-year-old man became a double amputee after a car pinned his legs against the front of a 7-Eleven store in Bensenville, Illinois, according to reports.
The 2017 crash was one of the thousands of similar incidents identified in discovery for the case, attorney James Power, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiff, told the Chicago Sun-Times in early February.
Ranking the Top 40 C-Store Chains: A 2023 Update
In February, CSP published an early look at its 2023 Top 202 list of the largest chains in the United States. It launched the full list in June.
Consolidation slowed somewhat in 2022. Still, the list of largest convenience-store chains in the industry was shaken up by several smaller deals that moved Par Mar Oil into the Top 40 for the first time and pushed The Cigarette Store/Smoker Friendly up 13 positions.
Court Orders Certain Raw Organic Hemp Rolling Papers Off the Market
A federal court ordered HBI International, maker of Raw Organic Hemp rolling papers, to stop selling and distributing certain products after a jury found the company engaged in unfair competition and violated the Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
The permanent injunction, filed Jan. 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, stemmed from a 2016 lawsuit from Republic Brands, a Glenview, Illinois-based distributor of rolling papers and premium smoking accessories.
Full Service to Stay in Oregon, as Gov. Kotek Wants Choice Enforced
In Oregon, where a new state law providing for the choice of self-service fueling took effect in August, Gov. Tina Kotek received more than 5,000 comments from state residents about the law, with most supporting it, but many reminding her that senior citizens and people with disabilities need assistance putting gasoline in their vehicles.
In an Aug. 4 letter, Kotek encouraged legislators and stakeholders to explore strengthening the complaint-and-enforcement process to ensure fuel stations don’t try to eliminate full-service fueling. She addressed the letter to state Senate President Rob Wagner and state House Speaker Rep. Dan Rayfield.
Kotek said she signed House Bill 2426, which allows for Oregon fuel stations to offer self-service pumps as long as they have at least as many full-service pumps in operation but had concerns about “potential unintended negative consequences. for individuals who want or need assistance from the attendant.”