CHICAGO —CSP is proud to announce the finalists in its 2022 Category Manager of the Year (CMOY) Awards, nominated by the convenience-store supplier community. These are the best of the best from independent, midsize and large chains across the United States.
Between now and Feb. 1, CSP is asking supplier partners to cast their votes to recognize the c-store industry’s finest category managers. Winners are chosen in nine key c-store segments. Winners will be announced during the 2022 Convenience Retailing University conference, to be held Feb. 23-25 in Orlando, Fla. The winners will be featured in a special section of CSP magazine’s April issue.
“Consumer needs changed perhaps more than ever before in 2021, making it even more important for category managers to have the right products in the right place to drive sales. And when supply shortages meant out-of-stocks, they had to pivot to meet consumers’ needs,” said Steve Holtz, content director for CSP. “It’s great to see these retailers earn the recognition they deserve for driving sales and building traffic for their chains, and working with their suppliers to make the absolute best of a difficult situation.”
Suppliers nominated dozens of potential finalists at the end of 2021 and, with the help of CSP editors, finalists were chosen based not only on bottom-line results, but also on the knowledge and forecasting abilities of these category managers, who arguably know more about today's consumer than anyone else.
The 2022 finalists for Category Manager of the Year are:
| BEHIND THE COUNTER/TOBACCO | |
| Kraig Knudsen | Circle K |
| Victoria Sheppard | Love's |
| Aubrey Thornock | Maverik |
| CBD | |
| Alan Adato | Yesway |
| John Bunch | Huck's Market |
| Michael Tirey | Circle K |
| CENTER STORE | |
| Kelley Gutierrez | MAPCO |
| Peter Kempton | TravelCenters of America |
| Tim Young | Newcomb Oil |
| DISPENSED BEVERAGES | |
| Billy Colemire | Stinker Stores |
| Nate Louden | 7-Eleven |
| Chris Vestal | Wallis Cos. |
| FOODSERVICE | |
| Ben Lucky | Wills Group |
| Sean Miller | QuikTrip |
| Anjuli Wilkie | 7-Eleven |
| LOYALTY/DELIVERY | |
| Shianna Peace | Sheetz |
| Chris Rose | Little General |
| Art Sebastian | Casey's General Stores |
| PACKAGED BEVERAGES-ALCOHOL | |
| Bob Gulley | Circle K—Rocky Mountains |
| John Herbert | True North |
| Michael Varallo | Wawa |
| PACKAGED BEVERAGES-NONALCOHOL | |
| Jack Lewis | GPM Investments |
| Angela Oliver | Circle K Coastal Carolinas |
| MJ Simons | MAPCO |
| TECHNOLOGY/OPERATIONS | |
| Ian Cavanaugh | 7-Eleven |
| Jonathan Kemp | Moyle Petroleum |
| Aisha Khan | Shashani Inc. |
Click here to vote for the finalists. The 2022 Category Manager of the Year Awards are sponsored by Altria Group Distribution Co. Click here to see last year’s winners.
CSP’s 2022 Convenience Retailing University conference will dig deep into category sales trends and best practices. We’ll also name our Category Managers of the Year. Click here to register now.
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