At Your Convenience

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Editor Diane Adam talks with Hayley Thrift, director of public relations at Spinx. The podcast was recorded inside the retailer’s new c-store concept  Spinx Market & Eatery  in downtown Greenville, South Carolina. Topics include the new store’s features, including made-to-order gourmet food items, bakery items and Spinx’s fried chicken.  Spinx is...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Editor Chuck Ulie talks with Ken Rash, senior category manager of packaged beverages at  Stinker Stores , and Scott Johnson, executive vice president at beverage partnership consulting firm Enliven and former senior vice president of  Keurig Dr Pepper . Stinker Stores is  No. 66  on  CSP's  2024  Top 202  ranking of convenience-store chains by size....

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Senior Editor Hannah Hammond and  CSP  Editors Diane Adam and Rachel Gignac have a conversation about their highlights from the  Convenience-Store Women’s Event . CSW took place from Nov. 4-6 in Charleston, South Carolina. Industry experts and c-store retailers spoke on topics including work-life balance, how they overcame challenges in their careers...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Editor Diane Adam talks with  Brad Helmer , executive vice president of business and corporate brand development for specialty and fresh product distributor  KeHE Distributors , Naperville, Illinois. Helmer talks about the increased interest in better-for-you products, especially from the younger generation. He also unpacks how consumers who care abo...

Darren Rebelez, CEO of Casey's and  CSP 's  2024 Retail Leader of the Year ,  accepted the award  in October at the RLOY dinner in Las Vegas. In his acceptance speech, he thanked and honored the entire Casey's team. “I’m just one person up here representing the achievements of the 45,000 team members we have across our 2,700 stores; many of whom are working as we speak to take care of our guests i...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” in partnership with C-StoreTEC, Mike Templeton, vice president of digital strategy at NexChapter, talks to convenience leaders about opportunities for c-stores in the mobile gaming space. Templeton speaks with Abigail Cerra, loyalty marketing manager at  Chestnut Market , New Paltz, New York, and Kim Carlson, chief revenue officer and chief operating offic...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Editor Chuck Ulie talks with  Kyle Drenon , co-owner of the Springfield, Missouri-based ad agency Supper Co. Drenon, whose business partner is Kesha Alexander, talks about why convenience stores shouldn’t try to do everything great—and why it’s a better strategy to focus on one or two items or areas to be excellent. Menu strategy, including limited-t...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Senior Editor Hannah Hammond talks to Melissa Weaver, senior operations manager at Metroplex Energy, which is  a division of the RaceTrac convenience-store chain . Metroplex Energy is a wholesale fuel supplier that secures bulk fuel to supply companies by rail, pipeline, truck, barge and vessel.  Weaver talks about Atlanta-based RaceTrac’s employee-l...

In this episode of "At Your Convenience," Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy Patrick DeHaan talks to CSP Editor Rachel Gignac about the state of fuel prices, what determines increases and decreases and how the presidential election might affect prices. He also touches on what the outcome of the election could mean for the fuel industry, especially in regard to electric vehicle adopti...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Editor Diane Adam talks with the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) Director Brian King. King discusses CTP’s top priorities, including the creation of a  federal multi-agency task force  to combat the  illegal distribution and sale  of e-cigarettes. He also discusses how convenience-store operators can partner with CTP...

Nouria Energy Corp., based in Worcester, Massachusetts, took home  first place  in  CSP 's annual Mystery Shop audit done in partnership with  Intouch Insight , an Ottawa, Ontario-based data analysis firm. Nouria is  No. 48  on  CSP’s  2023 Top 202  list.  CSP  Editor Rachel Gignac spoke with Nouria's director of operations, John Pszeniczny at  CSP 's Outlook Leadership conference in A...

At CSP 's Outlook Leadership conference in August, CSP Editor Rachel Gignac talked to Nate Brazier, CEO; Billy Colemire, vice president of marketing and brand; and Jeff Pidlypchak, vice president of operations at Stinker Stores, about its performance in the annual Mystery Shop audit. With a score of with a score of 96.18%, Boise, Idaho-based Stinker Stores took home second place in the Mystery...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Editor Chuck Ulie talks with Dawn Boulanger, vice president of marketing at  Tri Star Energy , Nashville, which operates Twice Daily convenience stores and White Bison Coffee shops. Boulanger discusses her company being a finalist in the 2024  CSP /Intouch Insight Mystery Shop audit , covering what they do on a daily basis to have scored so well—from...

CSP 's  Mystery Shop audit  has tracked how convenience stores improve standards year-over-year in terms of pump island, exterior, interior, restrooms, dairy cooler, fountain drinks, coffee, sandwich cooler and employees. There has been an increase in convenience-store shoppers that view a c-store as a competitor to quick service restaurants, said Cameron Watt, president and CEO of Intouch Ins...

In this episode of “ At Your Convenience ,”  CSP  Editors Rachel Gignac, Hannah Hammond and Chuck Ulie recorded from  CSP’s  Outlook Leadership conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Each shared highlights of the event, which featured general sessions and innovation forums with leading convenience-store retailers and suppliers on a variety of topics  key to the industry . Listen to find ou...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Editor Diane Adam talks with Alison Ritchie, the new president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS), based in Albany, New York. Ritchie discusses the challenges convenience-store operators must navigate when it comes to the tobacco category. She also gives an overview of how illegally smuggled tobacco products in New York means l...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Editor Chuck Ulie talks with Steve Morris, president of St. Paul, Minnesota-based Retail Management Inc. Morris discusses leveraging  technology  to handle today’s labor woes, the importance of maintaining menu consistency while sprinkling in limited-time offers and how getting customers inside a c-store starts with the moment they’re looking at the...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  VP of Content Strategy, Abbey Lewis, talks to  Restaurant Business’  Editor in Chief, Jonathan Maze, about the future of online delivery in both restaurants and convenience—and how consumers really feel about those wait times and fees. Tune in to hear about what we’ve learned about the major delivery players, and some exciting news on a new delivery...

Vice president of retail operations support has been at the convenience-store chain for 25 years

In this episode  of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Senior Editor Hannah Hammond  interviews Rebecca Mott , vice president of operational accounting at EG America. EG America is  No. 5  on  CSP’s  2024 Top 202  U.S. c-store chains by store count. Mott (pictured), who attended the Convenience-Store Women’s (CSW) event in November, shared tips on how companies can help match a mentor with the right men...

In this episode  of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Senior Editor Hannah Hammond interviews Rachell Bernhardt, human resources director at Quantum Services. The Columbus, Ohio-based company provides inventory audits for convenience-store brands  across the country . Bernhardt shares what it’s like to work on succession planning in a family-run business. She also gives an update on what her C-Store Wo...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Editor Chuck Ulie talks to Dan Razowsky, the marketing operations manager at Northbrook, Illinois-based Rmarts convenience stores. Razowsky (pictured) touches on looking to the future and building a  foodservice program  with love and attention, what effect  electric vehicles  might have on c-stores, and how handing out paper coupons at the pumps bri...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Editor Diane Adam talks with Mike Bloom, executive vice president and chief merchandising and marketing officer at GPM Investments, about the retailer’s latest enhanced food program rollout. Bloom talks about the company’s pizza offering and the value it brings to its loyalty members. He also discusses the rollout of Nathan’s Famous hot dogs added to...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,” Senior Editor Hannah Hammond  talks to Chris Smith , president of McLane’s retail business. Smith shares how he got to the role he’s in today by being placed in a stretch opportunity—one he was put in before he was ready to help him grow in new areas. They also talk about how their  Convenience-Store Women’s (CSW) event power team  is working on finding wa...

In this episode of “At Your Convenience,”  CSP  Editor Diane Adam talks with  Damon Bail , vice president of  Hop Shops  and the retail division with Valor Oil, about the retailer’s marketing success in the least likely places—convenience-store bathrooms. Hop Shops stores in Kentucky have achieved unprecedented success thanks to the now viral disco bathrooms in six of its stores. Bail talks about...