OAK BROOK, Ill. -- CSP Daily News readers voted and nearly 40% said the top retailer story of 2007 was BP and Shell announcing plans to sell all their retail sites. Meanwhile, credit-card fees earned the top spot from the supplier side of the industry.
In mid-November, BP announced the sale of its more than 700 company-owned, company-operated locations, turning most of the sites over to franchisees, although dealers and distributors will be included in the mix. A month earlier, Shell Oil Products U.S. expanded its policy of putting its retail sites [image-nocss] in wholesalers' hands and planned to sell off all its retail holdings by 2010.
Other top retailer stories of the year, as determined by CSP Daily News readers, included:
Tesco Opens Its Fresh & Easy Stores (21%)
Secretive Tesco surprised the industry in early November by opening its first Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market in California a week early. It is without question the most widely anticipated concept to come into retailing since Wal-Mart opened their supercenters, said retail consultant Neil Stern. It's got everybody apprehensive, from convenience stores to drugstores to supermarkets.
The Pantry Reports a Full Year of Poor Gasoline Margins (10%)
Terms such as difficult, disappointing and challenging peppered The Pantry's earnings conference calls in 2007. In the fourth quarter alone, the company presented a drop in net income to $5.6 million from than four times that at $26.7 million for the same period the previous year. Fiscal 2007 was a difficult year for us and a very challenging gas environment, said CEO Peter Sodini. And while optimistic about fiscal 2008, Sodini admitted the year is off to a slow start. Those conditions have continued so far into 2008.
Click here to view a slide show of the top retailer stories of the year.
On the supplier side, voters chose the following as their top three stories of the year:
Credit-Card Costs Surpass Total C-Store Industry Profits in 2006 (43%
Crude-Oil Prices Top $98 a Barrel (33%)
Miller Brewing and Molson Coors Brewing Announce Merger (8%)
On CSP Daily News, the day-to-day results of the most-read stories showed different results. CITGO held the top spot for the second year in a row. In 2006, it was for the company's announcement that it would pull out of 10 states, forcing 1,800 stations to find new gasoline brands. This year, the ongoing story of the company's link to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was the most-read story.
Here's a complete list of the top 10 most-read stories on CSP Daily News, and links to each complete story:
1. CITGO 'Rejects' 'Bama Billboard
Chavez sign urges consumers to boycott refiner's products
Originally run: Oct. 22
2. 'Total Control' for Valero?
Refiner-marketer restructures retail division to rein in overhead costs
Originally run: March 22
Allegations about personal life, misuse of resources send BP leader out door early
Originally run: May 2
Multi-branded regional retailer offering sites in several states
Originally run: Feb. 22
5. Eyeing the Convenience Channel
C-stores may be in Wal-Mart's future to counter Tesco's entry into the U.S.
Originally run: March 5
The Pantry reports "terrible" quarter with 8.6 cpg margins on gasoline
Originally run: Jan. 26
7. Dis-Connect-ing BP With ampm
Oil giant to roll out ampm nationwide
Originally run: Jan. 19
Oil company selling off all retail sites in favor of wholesaler joint ventures
Originally run: Oct. 4
Layoffs to come; Chicago-area HQ presence to be cut way back
Originally run: Oct. 22
10. When Costs Go Up
McLane's packaged beverage increase underscores distribution challenges
Originally run: Feb. 7
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