Private-Label Goods Help C-Stores Stand Out
Casey’s, 7-Eleven and Yesway use personalized brands to draw in customers.
February 22, 2021
By Pat Pape
Sharon Nealson of McKinney, Texas, used to tote around a bottle of Fiji water to sip throughout the day, but after 7-Eleven introduced its private-label Skýra Icelandic spring water last year, she switched brands. “Fiji is great, but kind of pricey,” she said. “Skýra is not as expensive, but I wouldn’t buy it at any price if it weren’t a high-quality product.”
When private-label food products first appeared on retailers’ shelves in the last century, they were aimed at budget-minded consumers and expected to be of lesser quality because of their discounted price. But that stereotype is a thing of the past. Today, private-label offerings have gone upscale, although prices typically remain lower than name-brand merchandise.
Wawaâs Gheysens Talks Innovation
NACS CEO Henry Armour discusses risk, experimentation and the future with Wawa’s CEO.
December 23, 2020
By Pat Pape
ALEXANDRIA, Va. Wawa, with 850 locations and more than 35,000 associates, is an iconic retailer in the Mid-Atlantic area, famous for freshly made, built-to-order sandwiches and hoagies. But the Pennsylvania-based chain has never been complacent, and company leaders constantly look for new products, services and technologies that will help them keep up with consumers’ changing demands.
Speaking with NACS President and CEO Henry Armour, Chris Gheysens, president and CEO of Wawa, explored how the c-store chain experiments within its portfolio to determine which innovations can best be implemented in redefining the future. Their conversation took place during “Experimentation on the Edges,” a Spotlight Session included in the recent NACS Crack the Code Experience.
C-Store Retailing: Visioning the Future
Brian Hannasch explains how Alimentation Couche-Tard is preparing for a sustainable future.
December 17, 2020
By Pat Pape
ALEXANDRIA, Va. Alimentation Couche-Tard, based in Laval, Canada, wants to become the world’s preferred destination for convenience and fuel, according to Brian Hannasch, president and CEO. And during “Visioning the Future,” a Spotlight Session in the recent NACS Crack the Code Experience, he explained how the global chain plans to achieve that goal.
Speaking with Henry Armour, president and CEO of NACS, Hannasch said that the future is already here; it’s just unevenly distributed.
“Last year in Asia, I saw artificial intelligence that lets you pay with your face, and they have incredible home delivery there,” he said. “Ten years ago in Vietnam, I saw bicycles everywhere, and now I see scooters. I go to Norway, which is a big market for us, and 60% of all vehicles sold are electric. Change is acceleratin
Travis Sheetz on the Future of Work
Sheetz president and NACS CEO Henry Armour discuss the c-store’s “beehive” approach to staffing.
December 15, 2020
By Pat Pape
ALEXANDRIA, Va. For years, most convenience store jobs were about stocking shelves and ringing up customers, but that era has passed, according to Travis Sheetz, president and COO of the 600-plus store Sheetz chain based in Pennsylvania.
Sheetz was interviewed about those changes by Henry Armour, president and CEO of NACS, during “The Future of Work with Travis Sheetz,” a Spotlight Session included in NACS’ recent Crack the Code Experience.
Job duties are morphing, Sheetz said. Today, more labor in the average c-store is spent “on food production and less on checkout and POS. As we shift to more self-checkout and mobile transactions, labor will shift to what I call food packaging and delivering. And we’re not just delivering to people’s homes. We’re taking food out to the pickup stand or curbside