CSN- August 2023

W H AT ’ S N E X T I N C O N V E N I E N C E A N D F U E L R E TA I L I N G

DASH IN ELEVATES ITS STORE EXPERIENCE

LEBRAT IN CE

G EA 10 Y RS

A Decade

of Achievement The Top Women in Convenience program celebrates its 10th anniversary as another 86 female leaders are welcomed into the fold.

AUGUST 2023

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Cause for Celebration The evolution of the Top Women in Convenience program shows how far the industry has come THE CONVENIENCE STORE NEWS Top Women in Convenience (TWIC) awards program

celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. As I take a moment to reflect on this milestone, I am struck by just how much this program has evolved since its inception.

We launched TWIC in 2014 with 30 honorees. The inaugural class included 15 senior-level executives, eight rising stars and two store managers, along with five leaders selected as Women of the Year. They were recognized at a simple breakfast event held at the Las Vegas Convention Center at 7 a.m. Less than 100 people were in attendance.

This year, we received roughly 300 TWIC nominations from across the industry’s retailer, distributor and supplier communities. The judging process was tough as the nominations were simply outstanding. After much deliberation, our judges decided on 86 winners (see page 32).

The 2023 TWIC class is comprised of 39 Senior-Level Leaders, 35 Rising Stars, seven Mentors and five Women of the Year. They will be honored the evening of Oct. 4 at an awards gala and party at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center.

A sold-out crowd of more than 400 is expected.

For a 10th anniversary, the traditional gift is tin or aluminum. It is meant to symbolize strength, resilience, flexibility, and the capacity to be bent without breaking. These same adjectives can certainly apply to this year’s Top Women in Convenience winners and the 505 TWIC honorees who have preceded them.

The c-store industry has come a long way and I am excited for the future as more women keep rising up the ranks and advancing into higher positions of authority.

For comments, please contact Linda Lisanti, Editor-in-Chief, at llisanti@ensembleiq.com.

EDITORIAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS (2016-2023)

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

2021 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award Finalist, Best Infographics, June 2021

2018 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award Finalist, Best Editorial Use of Data, June 2017

2023 American Society of Business Press Editors, National Azbee Awards Silver, Data Journalism, January/April/June 2022

2022 Eddie Award, Folio: magazine Winner, Business to Business, Retail, Single Article, March 2022 Winner, Business to Business, Food & Beverage, Series of Articles, October 2021 Honorable Mention, Business to Business, Retail, Single Article, September 2021

2020 Eddie Award, Folio: magazine

Gold, Data Journalism, January/April/June 2022 Bronze, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, March 2022

2018 Eddie Award Honorable Mention, Folio: magazine

Gold, Best How-To Article, March 2015 Bronze, Best Original Research, June 2015

2016 American Society of Business Press Editors, Midwest Regional Azbee Awards Gold, Best How-To Article, March 2015 Silver, Best Original Research, June 2015

2020 Trade Association Business Publications Intl. Tabbie Awards

Chris Hartman Rutter’s

Chad Beck Core-Mark

Ruth Ann Lilly GPM Investments LLC

Edward Davidson Ed Davidson & Associates (7-Eleven Inc., retired)

2023 American Society of Business Press Editors, Upper Midwest Regional Azbee Awards

2016 American Society of Business Press Editors, National Azbee Awards

Laura Aufleger OnCue Express

Business to Business, Retail, Series of Articles, September 2019 Business to Business, Retail, Website Business to Business, Retail, Full Issue, October 2017 Business to Business, Editorial Use of Data, June 2017

2017 Eddie Award, Folio: magazine Winner, Business to Business, Retail, Single/Series of Articles, May 2017 Honorable Mention, Business to Business, Retail, Single/Series of Articles, June 2016

Robert Falciani ExtraMile Convenience Stores Jim Hachtel Eby-Brown Co.

Vito Maurici McLane Co. Inc. Jonathan Polonsky Plaid Pantries Inc. Greg Scriver Kwik Trip Inc. Roy Strasburger StrasGlobal

2016 Eddie Award Honorable Mention, Folio: magazine Business to Business, Retail, Full Issue, October 2015 Business to Business, Retail, Single/Series of Articles, August 2015

Honorable Mention, Best Single Issue, September 2019

2016 Trade Association Business Publications Intl. Tabbie Awards Silver, Front Cover Illustration, June 2015

AUGUS T

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Convenience Store News 3

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VIEWPOINT

How Does ChatGPT View the Future of AI in Convenience Retailing?

Operators need to embrace artificial intelligence to stay competitive in the fast-changing retail landscape THERE’S BEEN much written about artificial intelligence (AI) lately. Most retailers use AI or machine learning (ML) in some form or another, especially in the areas of inventory management and analytics. I was wondering what impact AI will have on the future of the convenience retail business, so I decided to ask the most popular AI app, ChatGPT, to educate me. Here’s what it said:

“Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to revolutionize convenience retail businesses, transforming the way operators operate and enhancing overall efficiency and customer experience. With advancements in AI technology, operators can expect numerous impactful changes.

I was wondering what impact AI will have on the future of the convenience retail business, so I decided to ask the most popular AI app, ChatGPT, to educate me.

“One key area where AI will make a significant difference is inventory management. AI-powered systems can analyze real-time data on sales, stock levels and customer behavior to optimize inventory control. Through predictive analytics, AI algorithms can forecast demand patterns, allowing operators to adjust their stock levels accordingly, minimizing waste and optimizing profitability.

“Additionally, AI can enhance the customer experience in convenience retail. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can provide personalized recommendations, answer customer queries and even process transactions, thereby improving customer satisfaction and reducing the need for human intervention. Facial recognition technology integrated with AI can facilitate seamless and secure payment options, enabling quicker and more convenient transactions.

“Furthermore, AI can optimize pricing strategies by analyzing market trends, competitor pricing and customer demand. This technology can dynamically adjust prices to maximize revenue and margins, while also considering factors such as seasonality and product popularity.

“AI can also assist in enhancing store security. By utilizing video analytics and machine learning algorithms, AI systems can identify suspicious activities or potential theft, allowing operators to respond proactively and minimize losses.”

Interestingly, AI recognizes the shortfalls of AI implementation. ChatGPT goes on to say: “However, it is important to acknowledge potential challenges associated with AI implementation, such as the need for skilled personnel to operate and maintain AI systems, data privacy concerns and ethical considerations surrounding the use of customer data.”

I’ll give credit to ChatGPT for giving a comprehensive, if broad, view on the future of artificial intelligence. If you’re interested in a much more detailed discussion — human intelligence — on the future of AI, I suggest you download the latest report from the Convenience Leaders Vision Group at tvgsolutions.com/vision-reports and read what some of the smartest people in the industry think.

For now, I’ll give the last word on AI to ChatGPT: “In conclusion, AI holds immense potential for convenience retail businesses. By leveraging AI technologies, operators can streamline operations, improve customer service, optimize inventory management and maximize profitability. Embracing AI will be crucial for operators to stay competitive and thrive in the evolving retail landscape.”

For comments, please contact Don Longo, Editorial Director Emeritus, at dlongo@ensembleiq.com.

4 Convenience Store News C S N E W S . c o m

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CONTENTS AUGUST 23

VOLUME 59 N UMB ER 8

106

COVER STORY PAGE 32

LEBRAT IN CE

G EA 10 Y RS

110

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

COVER STORY

EDITOR’S NOTE

32 A Decade of Achievement The Top Women in Convenience program celebrates its 10th anniversary as another 86 female leaders are welcomed into the fold.

3 Cause for Celebration The evolution of the Top Women in Convenience program shows how far the industry has come.

24 New Products

NACS SHOW PREVIEW

106 Winning Together The 2023 NACS Show aims to create a better industry by helping c-store operators help each other.

SMALL OPERATOR

28 Breaking Down Barriers How the c-store industry’s small operators can best navigate the loyalty landscape.

TWIC TALK

VIEWPOINT

4 How Does ChatGPT View the Future of AI in Convenience Retailing?

Operators need to embrace artificial intelligence to stay competitive in the fast-changing retail landscape.

10 CSNews Online

108 Harnessing the Power of Mentorship Companies can build a stronger, more inclusive workforce by investing in mentoring at every level.

STORE SPOTLIGHT

110 Redefining the Neighborhood Store Concept Dash In’s new prototype focuses on the guest experience with a new visual identity, an elevated store experience and an all-new menu.

INSIDE THE CONSUMER MIND

130 Plugged In Driven by the younger generations, electric vehicle charging at c-stores is accelerating.

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CONTENTS AUGUST 23

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8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Ste. 200, Chicago, IL 60631 (773) 992-4450 Fax (773) 992-4455 WWW.CSNEWS.COM BRAND MANAGEMENT SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT-GROUP PUBLISHERUS GROCERY & CONVENIENCE GROUP Paula Lashinsky (917) 446-4117 - plashinsky@ensembleiq.com EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Linda Lisanti llisanti@ensembleiq.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR Melissa Kress mkress@ensembleiq.com SENIOR EDITOR Angela Hanson ahanson@ensembleiq.com MANAGING EDITOR Danielle Romano dromano@ensembleiq.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Amanda Koprowski akoprowski@ensembleiq.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR EMERITUS Don Longo dlongo@ensembleiq.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Renée M. Covino, Tammy Mastroberte

INDUSTRY ROUNDUP 12 RaceTrac to Grow With Gulf Oil Acquisition 14 Casey’s Unveils a New Three-Year Strategic Plan 16 Fast Facts 18 Eye on Growth 20 Retailer Tidbits 22 Supplier Tidbits TECHNOLOGY

CATEGORY MANAGEMENT

ADVERTISING SALES & BUSINESS ASSOCIATE BRAND DIRECTOR & NORTHEAST SALES MANAGER Rachel McGaffigan - (774) 212-6455 rmcgaffigan@ensembleiq.com

FOODSERVICE

92 Why Differentiation Is Key to Success Convenience foodservice retailers would be wise to find their niche.

ASSOCIATE BRAND DIRECTOR & WESTERN SALES MANAGER Ron Lowy - (330) 840-9557 - rlowy@ensembleiq.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER & MIDWEST SALES MANAGER Kelly Fischer - (773) 992-4464 - kfischer@ensembleiq.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE & CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Terry Kanganis - (201) 855-7615 - tkanganis@ensembleiq.com CLASSIFIED PRODUCTION MANAGER Mary Beth Medley (856) 809-0050 - marybeth@marybethmedley.com

TOBACCO

98 Four Upbeat Tips for Managing Downtrading C-store retailers can keep their tobacco business steady by focusing on value.

DESIGN/PRODUCTION/MARKETING ART DIRECTOR Lauren DiMeo ldimeo@ensembleiq.com PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Pat Wisser pwisser@ensembleiq.com SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER Krista-Alana Travis ktravis@ensembleiq.com SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

102 The Convenience of Mobile C-store retailers continue upping their game to engage customers on mobile devices.

LIST RENTAL mbriganti@anteriad.com SUBSCRIPTION QUESTIONS contact@csnews.com

CORPORATE OFFICERS

102

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Jennifer Litterick

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Jane Volland

CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER

Ann Jadown

CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER

Joe Territo

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Derek Estey

CONVENIENCE STORE NEWS AFFILIATIONS Premier Trade Press Exhibitor

The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations.

Convenience Store News (ISSN 0194-8733; USPS 515-950) is published 12 times per year, monthly, by EnsembleIQ, 8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Ste. 200, Chicago, IL 60631. Subscription rates: Subscription rate in the United States: $125 one year; $230 two year; $14 single issue copy; Canada and Mexico: $150 one year; $270 two year; $16 single issue copy; Foreign: $170 one year; $325 two year; $16 single issue copy; Digital One year, digital $87; two year, $161. Periodical postage paid at Chicago, IL 60631, and additional mailing addresses. Copyright 2023 by EnsembleIQ. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Convenience Store News, 8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Ste. 200, Chicago, IL 60631.

8 Convenience Store News C S N E W S . c o m

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CSNEWS ONLINE

TOP VIEWED STORIES

1

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

GetGo Eases Fourth of July Travel With Fuel Discounts

All Advantage Pay and myPerks customers could buy regular unleaded gas for just $2.75 per gallon from June 30 through July 4, with the same cents-off discount applied to all other fuel grades, including premium and diesel.

Monster Beverage Inks $362M Deal

Acquire Competitor 2 to The company entered into an asset purchase agreement for Bang Energy with Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. months after it filed for Chapter 11 protections under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Under the agreement, a Monster subsidiary will acquire substantially all of Bang Energy’s assets, including a beverage production facility located in Phoenix.

Casey’s Picks Up 26 Minit Mart Locations

convenience store retailer paid $48 million to acquire 3 The the “noncore” stores from EG America, which will continue to operate the remaining Minit Mart locations. The deal more than triples Casey’s previous store count of 12 convenience stores in Kansas City, Mo.

FDA Issues Updates on Tobacco

Agenda 4 Regulation The agency issued multiple updates on various pending and upcoming tobacco-related regulations as part of its Spring 2023 Regulatory Agenda. New rules address the use of menthol in cigarettes and updated restrictions on the sale of tobacco products to anyone under age 21.

Convenience & Gas Retailers Land Spots

NRF’s Top 100 List 5 on 7-Eleven Inc., Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., Casey’s General Stores Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Shell Oil Co. appeared on the annual list. Grocers Hy-Vee Inc. and Giant Eagle Inc., which both have a c-store presence, also appeared.

INDUSTRY REPORT 2023 DEEP DIVE:

Candy & Snacks

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated consumers’ snacking habits and turned it into a lifestyle. While consumer tastes and purchase habits continue to evolve, shoppers continually turn to convenience stores to fulfill various need states throughout the day, whether it’s to satisfy a craving, to treat or reward themselves, or to support their emotional wellbeing.

In this special “Deep Dive” report, a bonus supplement to the Convenience Store News 2023 Industry Report, we present exclusive data and insights into the candy and snack categories at convenience stores.

For more exclusive stories, visit the Special Features section of csnews.com.

MOST VIEWED NEW PRODUCT

Barbie x Swoon Pink Lemonade

EXPERT VIEWPOINT

Strategies to Maximize Retail Media Networks

While retailers and advertisers alike are hopping on the retail media bandwagon, the key to making retail media networks work is serving targeted consumers with consistent, relevant and personalized ads, writes Paul Brenner, senior vice president, retail media and partnerships, at Vibenomics. Related challenges include outdated or nonexistent technology and shrinking loyalty program membership. Retailers can tackle these by investing in a combination of on-premise media and in-store digital advertising to create a true omnichannel experience; and promoting loyalty programs to both employees and consumers, creating robust rewards programs that can leverage the data collected on purchase decisions.

Beverage company Swoon, in partnership with Mattel, launched the Barbie x Swoon Pink Lemonade, a tie-in with the “Barbie” movie. The special-edition lemonade will be sold in more than 4,000 retailers, with a case of 12 cans retailing for $29.99. Ten percent of the net profits from sales of the beverage will support the Barbie Dream Gap Project, which provides resources, curriculum, skills development and leadership opportunities to girls between the ages of 5 and 10 across the globe.

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10 Convenience Store News C S N E W S . c o m

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INDUSTRY ROUNDUP

RaceTrac to Grow With Gulf Oil Acquisition Exclusive rights to market fuel at Gulf’s retail locations along the Massachusetts Turnpike is part of the deal RACETRAC INC. is growing its reach to 40 U.S. states and Puerto Rico with its recent acquisition deal for Gulf Oil LP. In early July, the Atlanta-based company’s wholly owned wholesale fuel supply and trading subsidiary, Metroplex Energy, signed a definitive agreement to acquire Gulf Oil LLC.

As part of the transaction, RaceTrac will acquire Gulf’s nationally recognized fuel brand across the United States and U.S. territories, all of Gulf’s branded distributor and license agreements, and the exclusive rights to market fuel at Gulf’s retail locations along the Massachusetts Turnpike.

“The gasoline marketplace is undergoing historic and fundamental change and will continue to evolve rapidly. We are committed to remaining an industry leader and continuing to invest and grow our transportation fuels network,” said AJ Siccardi, president of Metroplex Energy. “The combination of Gulf’s outstanding distributor network and RaceTrac’s history of driving retail fuel volume creates a tremendous opportunity to serve dealers and distributors in a manner that will make their sites successful fueling destinations of the future.”

RaceTrac has nearly 800 retail locations representing the RaceTrac and RaceWay brands in 12 states in the Southeast. Metroplex Energy sells fuels to all RaceTrac locations, as well as many other leading retailers and fuel wholesalers in 15 states primarily in the Southeast.

Gulf is a Wellesley, Mass.-based company that fuels consumers through approximately 1,200 Gulf branded locations across the United States and Puerto Rico.

“This exciting acquisition continues our history of growth, expanding RaceTrac’s family of companies to nearly 40 states across the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico,” said RaceTrac CEO Max McBrayer.

“Gulf is a trusted national brand that has been innovating and evolving for over 100 years, combining quality petroleum products with outstanding service. We look forward to continuing to expand the Gulf legacy.”

Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

Wells Fargo Securities LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to RaceTrac and Metroplex Energy. Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP served as legal advisor. Barclays served as exclusive financial advisor to Gulf Oil LP. Latham & Watkins LLP served as its legal advisor.

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INDUSTRY ROUNDUP

Casey’s Unveils a New Three-Year Strategic Plan Growth will be driven by foodservice, network expansion and enhanced operational efficiencies

By Melissa Kress

AFTER SUCCESSFULLY executing its first threeyear strategic plan launched in early 2020, Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey’s General Stores Inc. is ready to tackle the next three years, with expanded food offerings and unit growth slated to play critical roles.

“As we look to the next three years, we felt really good about where we’ve been and we think we’ve built a lot of credibility with the investment community,” CEO Darren Rebelez said in a media briefing following the retailer’s Investor’s Day on June 27. “We have what I call a really high ‘say-do ratio,’ which means if we say we’re going to do something, then we take that commitment seriously and we feel compelled to deliver on that.”

According to its new strategic plan, Casey’s is committed to growing again in the top quintile of S&P retailers with EBITDA growth of 8 percent to 10 percent. It intends to get there by leveraging unique guest insights the company did not have three and half years ago.

The three primary strategies for this leg of the retailer’s growth are: 1. Accelerate the food business. “Pizza is the

crown jewel of our business, but we have a lot of opportunity,” Rebelez said. “As strong as our food business is, we have a lot of opportunity to expand and to grow that. We’re leaning heavier into that in this next three-year plan.”

2. Unit growth. “We operate 2,500 convenience stores in 16 midwestern states and what I’d like to point out is that with those 2,500 stores in the 16 states, about 2,000 of those stores are in only nine of the states we operate in,” the CEO explained. “So, the other 500 are scattered over the seven other states. We have a lot of white space to grow in our existing footprint. And of course, there’s a lot more than 16 states in the U.S., so we have plenty of room beyond that.”

3. Enhancing operational efficiencies. “We’ve stood up a continuous improvement team at Casey’s that’s been focused over the last year on removing inefficiency from our stores, from our distribution centers, really from our entire operation,” Rebelez said. “They’ll continue that work for the next three years to support that effort.”

At the base of these three primary strategies stands investment in Casey’s enabling foundation, through which the chain will support objectives around data analytics, technology and supply chain — and enhance its team member value proposition.

14 Convenience Store News C S N E W S . c o m

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INDUSTRY ROUNDUP

FAST FACTS

82% 8.2%

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Same-store sales for June 2023 increased 7.7 percent year over year, and average sales per calendar day for June increased 1.5 percent compared to May 2023.

According to the “Healthy Handwashing Survey,” 82 percent of survey respondents believe it is important to have touchless fixtures in a public restroom.

Store brand dollar sales across all U.S. retail outlets increased 8.2 percent year over year for the six-month period ending June 18 vs. 5.1 percent for national brands.

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7/24/23 10:27 AM AM 8/4/23 11:31

INDUSTRY ROUNDUP

Eye on Growth

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is on track to close its acquisition of TotalEnergies SE before the end of the year. The company confirmed that TotalEnergies has accepted its approximately $3.3 billion bid.

Sheetz Inc. selected the site for its first store in Michigan. Located less than four miles from the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, it is expected to begin operations in late 2024.

H-E-B Grocery Co. continues to roll out the H-E-B Fresh Bites brand with the opening of a second location in Lytle, Texas, adjacent to a preexisting H-E-B store. The company now operates 12 c-store locations throughout Texas.

Public records show Parker’s also purchased nearly 10 acres in North Jacksonville, Fla., which could be home to its first store in the Sunshine State.

Alta Convenience, a joint venture of Fortress Investment Group LLC and Philips 66 Co., acquired eight JR’s Fuel Stop stores from Duran Oil. The stores will transition to the Alta brand.

Parker’s is moving into a new market through a strategic expansion slated for 2024. The convenience store operator will open a new Parker’s Kitchen in Augusta, Ga., with plans for additional locations in the area.

Haffner’s expanded its presence in Massachusetts with the acquisition of Huhtala Oil & Propane and Concord Oil. The Concord Oil deal included a gas station and convenience store, several bulk storage facilities, and a home heating delivery and HVAC business.

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INDUSTRY ROUNDUP

Global Partners LP put 54 nonstrategic locations with gasoline in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic up for sale. The sites are in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia and Vermont.

Retailer Tidbits

Pilot Co. and Bridgestone Americas have brought their service network for commercial fleets to more than 300 Pilot and Flying J travel centers one year after launch. The initial goal was to incorporate Bridgestone’s advanced tire monitoring technology at 200 sites.

Jernigan Oil, operator of Duck Thru Food Stores, launched the LottoShield lottery management solution across its 56-store network. The move streamlines operations.

Additionally, FedEx is developing a digital experience through its GPS system to guide drivers to preferred fueling stations.

Love’s Travel Stops introduced truck wash services at select travel stops and Speedco locations. The service is currently available in Harrisonville, Mo., and Pauls Valley, Okla.

Love’s anticipates opening additional locations in the next two years.

BP entered a pact with FedEx to support the shipping firm’s U.S. fleet service. Fleet drivers can receive an 8-cent-per-gallon discount at both bp and Amoco stations for gas and diesel purchases.

Lou Perrine’s Gas & Grocery, a well-known independent retailer in Wisconsin, ended operations on July 11 after nearly 70 years in business. The retailer’s two locations were sold to an unnamed Indianapolis-based investment firm.

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INDUSTRY ROUNDUP The Food and Drug Administration issued a marketing denial order to myblu Menthol 2.4%, a vapor product made by Fontem US LLC. The agency cited a lack of evidence supporting added benefits of menthol, among other deficiencies.

Supplier Tidbits

PepsiCo Inc. selected 10 Hispanic-owned startups as finalists for its Greenhouse Accelerator Program: Juntos Crecemos (Together We Grow) Edition. The companies chosen for the business mentoring program will each receive a $20,000 grant to accelerate their growth.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.

Mars Inc. signed an agreement to acquire Kevin’s Natural Foods, a high-growth nutritious meal company. As part of the deal, Kevin’s will operate as a standalone business within Mars Food & Nutrition, reporting to Global President Shaid Shah.

McLane Co. Inc. is holding the McLane Engage convention, a newly imagined trade show experience, in Dallas at the end of August. The invitation-only event will feature more than 160 exhibitors and include a new products showcase.

22nd Century Group Inc. entered into a new manufacturing agreement to produce a private label premium cigarette brand, Pinnacle, to be sold at a U.S. c-store chain that comprises almost 1,700 stores in 27 states.

Pinnacle is approved in 22 states to date and currently has applications pending in the remaining states.

RetailTech Breakthrough selected frontline digital workplace WorkJam as winner of the “Workforce Scheduling Solution of The Year” award in its inaugural RetailTech Breakthrough Awards program.

Solving Big Problems, Inspiring Bold Ideas EnsembleIQ is a premier business intelligence resource that believes in Solving Big Problems and Inspiring Bold Ideas. Our brands work in harmony to inform, connect, and provide predictive analysis for retailers, consumer goods manufacturers, technology vendors, marketing agencies and service providers.

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NEW PRODUCTS

Mexican Style Street Corn Nuts Hormel Foods brings a new flavor to its Corn Nuts brand inspired by elotes, a classic Mexican corn snack roasted and served right on the cob. The new Mexican Style Street Corn variety combines chili and citrus with the distinct Corn Nuts crunch to create an on-the-go snack or tasty addition to a packed lunch or snack drawer, according to the company. Packaged in neon green bags, Mexican Style Street Corn Nuts are now available at convenience stores, gas stations and grocery stores.

HORMEL FOODS CORP. • AUSTIN, MINN. • CORNNUTS.COM

Red Stripe Rum Drinks Red Stripe is rolling out two new canned rum cocktails — Rum Punch and Rum Mojito — that are intended to deliver tropical vibes during the summertime heat. Marking Red Stripe’s venture beyond beer, both beverages are crafted with real Caribbean rum, mango and lime juice, and natural flavors. Containing an ABV of 5.9 percent, both varieties come in packs of slim 12-ounce cans. Red Stripe Rum Drinks began hitting store shelves in Florida and select markets across the Northeast throughout the spring.

HEINEKEN USA INC. • WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. • US.REDSTRIPEBEER.COM

Rich’s Scone Dough Rich Products Corp. expands its scone dough line with new 2.5-ounce and 3.75ounce Rustic Scone Dough offerings. Rustic Scone Dough features a traditional biscuit-like texture with shape options of round, triangle, rectangle or scalloped round. The product is available in five flavors: Blueberry, Cranberry Orange, Cinnamon Chip, Chocolate Chunk and Raspberry. The dough is precut and goes from the freezer to the oven, requiring minimal labor and creating an enticing aroma, the company said. Scones come 120 per case, 96 per case or 60 per case, depending upon size. The shelf life for all scone dough is 210 days frozen and two to three days baked ambient.

RICH PRODUCTS CORP. • BUFFALO, N.Y. • RICHSCONVENIENCE.COM

Scharffen Berger Breaks Chocolate maker Scharffen Berger presents Breaks, a line of craft-made vegan barks featuring 43 percent oat milk chocolate and coconut sugar, aimed at consumers looking for lower-glycemic snacking options. The product marks the company’s entry into a new category. Breaks come in four flavors: Salted Almond, Coconut and Quinoa, Salted Sunflower Seed and Gluten-Free Pretzel. All four varieties are packed in resealable 4.5-ounce standup pouches.

The company also offers other vegan snack innovations, such as bite-sized Chocolatee Provisions and 3-ounce chocolate bars that are available in five flavors.

SCHARFFEN BERGER CHOCOLATE MAKER • ASHLAND, ORE. • SCHARFFENBERGER.COM

Cantaloupe Go Self-Service Solutions Cantaloupe Inc. debuts its newly branded Cantaloupe Go product line of selfservice solutions. The offerings encompass self-checkout kiosks, including the Go Mini, Go MiniX, Go Plus100, Go Plus200, Go Plus300 and Go Max. The line also includes smart store concepts, which provide point-of-sale solutions that can extend self-service into semi-public or public settings using products such as the Cooler Cafe, Smart Cafe and Smart Market, as well as the Cantaloupe Go management platform. All Cantaloupe Go self-service solutions integrate directly into Cantaloupe’s preexisting Seed platform, enabling operators to expand their self-service options while maintaining efficiency in service and performance.

CANTALOUPE INC. • MALVERN, PA. • CANTALOUPE.COM 24 Convenience Store News C S N E W S . c o m

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NEW PRODUCTS

Topo Chico Sabores Sparkling water brand Topo Chico taps into nostalgic flavors and childhood favorites for its new line, Topo Chico Sabores. The collection comes in three spring-fresh flavors: Blueberry with a hint of hibiscus extract, Tangerine with a hint of ginger extract, and Lime with a hint of mint extract. Each option is made with real fruit juice and is free of added sugars and artificial ingredients. Each serving runs between five and 15 calories.

The retail price per individual can is $1.50, while the price for a four-pack is $4.49.

THE COCA-COLA CO. • ATLANTA • TOPOCHICO.COM

High Purity Delta-8 THC Cannabis brand Pax unveils High Purity Delta-8 THC, its first natural hemp-based product for use with the Pax Era system. The new offering is made with 100 percent hemp-derived Delta-8 THC oil and natural terpenes, which deliver 88 percent total active cannabinoids, according to the company. High Purity Delta-8 THC comes in a 1-gram pod format in six popular strains, including Blueberry Gelato, Chemdog, Forbidden Fruitz, Strawberry Fields, Super Limoncello and Guava Jelly. The line undergoes strict testing by a third-party licensed laboratory to ensure quality, potency and safety. High Purity Delta-8 THC is available starting at $25 in 25 states to consumers who are over 21 years of age.

PAX LABS INC. • SAN FRANCISCO • PAX.COM

BIC Special Edition Bohemian Series Lighters BIC introduces newly refreshed designs for its Special Edition Bohemian Series of lighters. The cases feature whimsical artwork and are intended to let consumers release their inner hippie with designs that “capture all the vibes,” according to the company.

Like all BIC Maxi lighters, the Bohemian Series lighters are long-lasting, reliable and 100 percent quality inspected. They have a suggested retail price of $2.29 per lighter.

BIC USA INC. • SHELTON, CONN. • US.BIC.COM

Eco-Products Compostable Cutlery Novalex presents the newest Eco-Products line: compostable cutlery made from Forest Stewardship Council certified birch wood, which ensures the wood comes from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits. The wooden spoons, forks and knives feature a user-friendly design with a ridge in the handle for a stronger grip and extra durability, according to the maker. The compostable cutlery line includes 6.5-inch knives, forks and spoons that can be used for hot or cold foods.

They can be purchased bulk unwrapped, individually wrapped or wrapped as part of a kit. The utensils also have CMA-S (substrate acceptance) from the Composting Manufacturing Alliance.

ECO-PRODUCTS • BOULDER, COLO. • ECOPRODUCTS.COM

Stuzo Retailer Connect Stuzo launches Retailer Connect, its fourth software product focused on empowering retailers to generate better business outcomes and higher value. The new solution is intended to, among other things, enable corporate management to set, measure and reward Wallet Steering program performance and outcomes; provide visibility for site-level management into corporate-run program objectives; and enable site-level management to participate in and augment corporate-run programs.

Retailer Connect also offers a contractual performance guarantee, committing Stuzo to deliver 50 percent more program members and 50 percent more program transactions relative to a retailer’s current program.

STUZO • PHILADELPHIA • STUZO.COM

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SMALL OPERATOR

Breaking Down Barriers How the c-store industry’s small operators can best navigate the loyalty landscape

By Kathleen Furore

“WHEN YOU CONSIDER that 84 percent

of consumers are enrolled in an average of five loyalty programs across merchants, it might seem like boosting your loyalty program participation would be easy. As any c-store with a loyalty program knows, this is just not the case.”

That quote from “Maximizing Loyalty ROI with Everyday Payments Data,” an e-book from payment processing and data insights company PayiQ, lays out the task at hand for convenience store operators striving to build loyalty with today’s consumers.

While 91 percent of consumers say a personalized loyalty experience is worthwhile, 69 percent of loyalty users have left or become inactive because they didn’t perceive the program as being valuable, according to a survey from Wakefield Research commissioned by PayiQ. Add in the fact that 49 percent say they will leave if they are not rewarded quickly enough, and the high hurdles c-store operators face become even clearer.

All stores, of course, must work to break those barriers; however, they are especially daunting for the industry’s small operators who have fewer resources than their larger competitors.

Identifying the Challenges Understanding what a small operator faces is the first step to implementing processes and programs that will help them engage customers and generate long-term loyalty.

Frequency of customer interactions and the amount shoppers spend are two issues that put small operators at a disadvantage compared to the bigger players on the block, said Michelle Wildenauer, senior vice president of strategic services for The Lacek Group, a data-driven loyalty, experience and customer engagement agency headquartered in Minneapolis.

“It is easier to engage customers and generate loyalty when customer interactions are frequent and there is meaningful customer spend. Frequency keeps the brand top-of-mind and provides brands with opportunities to shape and reward customer habits. Spend provides funding for meaningful loyalty rewards,” she explained, noting that small stores — especially those with a limited geographic footprint — may have lower frequency and spend. “They’ll need to look for ways to engage their audience in between transactions and deliver member benefits and rewards that are low cost but have high perceived value.”

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Differentiation is another hurdle, according to Jeff Opp, sales director of independent and new markets for Temple, Texas-based McLane Co. Inc., one of the largest distributors in America.

“It can be difficult for a small operator to differentiate their store or their product mix and to create unique offerings and experiences that drive engagement and loyalty,” he said. “I would recommend that small stores implement a consistent pricing strategy around buying more to save — [for example], buy an item to save money on select items.”

A transactional business model focused on convenience and speed of transaction is also problematic for small operators. “Consumers today show loyalty to brands that engage them both rationally and emotionally,” said Wildenauer, noting that eight in 10 consumers in a late 2021 survey by The Lacek Group indicated that emotional benefits help maintain engagement in a loyalty program. Transactional programs alone don’t create an emotional connection with customers.

“The problem with programs based solely on rational benefits is they’re ripe for disruption — and easy to break,” she further explained. “One email from a competitor offering a deep discount for a first-time visitor just might sway those seemingly loyal customers.”

How to Accelerate Loyalty Engaging customers in ways that not only keep them happy on their first visit, but also engender loyalty that will generate many trips to come is clearly an important task.

There are several ways small operators can work toward achieving this goal: 1. Focus on ways to create emotional engagement and humanize the experience This approach is key considering that 71 percent of consumers say they would share their personal information with a loyalty program if it meant getting a more personalized experience, according to PayiQ research.

Wildenauer suggests creating a sense of community through local or regional efforts — things like “member days” when the local sports team wins or first access to local events for top-tier members. And because the c-store

customer’s experience often occurs at the pump with little or no human interaction, she recommends implementing new business models that bring the in-store experience to the member “like what quick-service restaurants have done with mobile order and pay, and curbside delivery.”

2. Incorporate unique elements of your brand or product offering into your loyalty strategies Are your stores known for a certain beverage or food offering that differentiates you from the competition? “Build your loyalty proposition around this or create fun reward options or redemption windows around these items,” Wildenauer advises.

3. Develop an ecosystem that delivers a more robust and holistic member experience Creating a loyalty playbook for merchandisers that are interested in delivering targeted offers to members is one suggestion. Wildenauer also recommends “working with merchandisers to reallocate a portion of their marketing funds to program currency,” and conducting customer research to understand paint points and needs, and then solve for these through brand partnerships.

Supply chain partners can be an integral part of the ecosystem, too, Opp stressed. “Smaller stores with smaller budgets or limited resources can remain competitive by leveraging their supply chain partner and taking advantage of vendor loyalty programs,” he said, noting that McLane has helped independent operators grow into small chains and small chains grow into large chains by providing insights into product mix, merchandising and technology tools.

4. Consider alternative loyalty strategies Wildenauer recommends creating new programs and promotions, and then testing them in limited markets prior to rollout to gauge customer response. One example: “Test a subscription program where members pay an annual fee for enhanced services or rewards — complimentary beverage with every visit, fixed price for gasoline for a limited duration, bottomless coffee, etc.,” she said.

5. Leverage technology to create greater customer engagement Technology is perhaps the most effective way to build a truly robust, successful loyalty program. Yet 89 percent of executives are concerned that their current technologies, platforms or databases are not providing the tools they need, with 51 percent reporting that their loyalty program cannot offer personalized rewards, according to PayiQ. For operators looking for help on the technology front, Wildenauer advises them to “ensure the loyalty program is seamlessly delivered through the app, and consider integration of loyalty earn and redeem functionality with the digital wallet. Add utility to the app to generate engagement in between transactions. Prioritize functionality that provides both functional and entertainment value. And deliver geolocation messaging when members are near stores to drive incremental visits.”

The ability to access secure, first-party data in real time — key to being able to tailor offers to individual customers — is also an important component of the technology picture.

“Many c-stores have credit card data, but haven’t had the technology to securely access, organize and leverage it into action. Oftentimes, the first step toward real-time data is to convert a batch of their current data into actionable insights, leveraging card-based technology,” according to PayiQ. “When a customer swipes their card into any terminal across your chain, that card is instantly captured and converted into a secure token that obscures the card number.

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SMALL OPERATOR

The secure card token becomes the basis for creating a customer profile.

“For many c-stores, their loyalty program

is the best way to collect customer behavior and product preference data. But to deliver personalized experiences to a greater number of customers, they need a bigger slice of first-party data,” PayiQ concluded. CSN

Examples From the Field What are successful convenience store operators doing to thrive on the loyalty front?

“We have seen small c-stores succeed with private label lines and innovative food offerings,” said Jeff Opp, sales director of independent and new markets for McLane Co. Inc. He noted that single-store operators can purchase McLane’s exclusive CVP line of products, ranging from health and beauty to candy and snacks, and leverage a private label strategy to drive loyalty “just as a national chain can do with their own line.”

Upgrading fuel offers can be a loyalty-building strategy, too. “Many c-store loyalty programs are similar, focusing primarily on transactional engagement with the brand and offering a cents-off-per-gallon model that is based on dollars spent or gallons of fuel purchased. One design element that is common for medium-sized programs is the addition of tiers beyond basic fuel rewards,” reported Michelle Wildenauer, senior vice president of strategic services for The Lacek Group.

She pointed to Eagle Stop Stores’ Eagle Stop Rewards as a program that uses a different tier qualification structure. “They use the number of visits as the basis for tier status. As a result, the program drives both spend and frequency, resulting in bigger business impact,” she said.

Creative redemption offers are also worth implementing, according to Wildenauer, who cited:

• Love’s Travel Stops: Love’s Travel Rewards program offers free showers as a reward option.

“This is a great showcase of knowing your customer and building redemption options that meet their needs,” she explained.

• Casey’s General Stores Inc.: Casey’s loyalty program offers the ability to donate points as cash donations to local schools. “This is a unique redemption option that is not seen at many larger brands,” she pointed out.

• ExtraMile Convenience Stores: ExtraMile’s ExtraDay program awards members free stuff only on the ExtraMile Extras Rewards app.

Wildenauer calls this “a creative way to generate emotional engagement, app activity and habitforming behavior.”

• Sheetz Inc.: Sheetz’s loyalty program has three membership tiers: Fan, Friend and Freak. “This creative approach helps evolve the program from a transactional to emotional relationship,” Wildenauer stated.

“In summary, when we evaluate programs, we consider all the different ways the brand develops bonds with customers. We believe brand devotion requires four types of consumer bonds: emotional, social, financial and structural. By factoring in these four components, a company extends its brand value and differentiates its loyalty proposition for customers’ total brand devotion,” she summed up.

ExtraMile’s ExtraDay program awards members free items only on the ExtraMile Extras Rewards app.

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COVER STORY

LEBRAT E IN C G

EA 10 Y RS

A Decade

of Achievement The Top Women in Convenience program celebrates its 10th anniversary as another 86 female leaders are welcomed into the fold A Convenience Store News Staff Report

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CONVENIENCE STORE NEWS launched the Top Women in Convenience (TWIC) awards program in 2014 with 30 honorees. This year, the program celebrates its 10th anniversary and nears the 600 mark for the total number of female leaders recognized to date.

The 10th class of Top Women in Convenience will be honored in October and comprises 86 established and emerging female leaders who are advancing the convenience store industry.

TWIC is the first and still only c-store industry program that spotlights the integral role women play in convenience retailing and celebrates individuals across retailer, distributor and supplier businesses for outstanding contributions to their companies and the industry at large.

TWIC honorees are recognized in four categories: Women of the Year: Retailer, supplier and wholesaler executives of any rank who have had an exceptional impact on the success or direction of their company, as well as a positive impact on the convenience store industry as a whole. These visionaries have steered their companies into new markets, new opportunities, and strong measurable growth.

Senior-Level Leaders: Retailer, supplier and wholesaler executives at the level of director or vice president and above who have executed on a strategy and transformed their business in a positive manner.

Rising Stars: Retailer, supplier and wholesaler professionals with job titles from store manager to just below vice president who are making their mark on the industry, even at early stages of their careers.

Mentors: Retailer, supplier and wholesaler professionals of any rank who have made an extraordinary effort, and had an exceptional impact, on the careers of their colleagues.

The 2023 TWIC class is comprised of five Women of the Year, 39 Senior-Level Leaders, 35 Rising Stars and seven Mentors from across the industry’s retailer, distributor and supplier communities. Judging was conducted by the CSNews editorial team in partnership with the 2023 Top Women in Convenience Advisory Board.

The winners were chosen based on nominations received from their companies and peers. Drawing from achievements during the previous 12 months, nominators were asked to illustrate the candidate’s innovative corporate initiatives, extraordinary financial and strategic accomplishments, astute problem-solving acumen, exceptional performance, mentorship work and its outcome for mentees, and selfless charitable participation, along with any other attributes that go above and beyond the call of duty.

All of the 2023 TWIC winners will be celebrated at a ceremony held during the 2023 NACS Show in Atlanta. The Top Women in Convenience Awards Gala will take place the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 4 at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at the CNN Center.

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COVER STORY

WOMAN OF THE YEAR:

Treasa Bowers

LEBRAT IN CE G

EA 10 Y RS

Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer

7-Eleven Inc. In the midst of COVID-19 challenges, Bowers supported integration efforts following 7-Eleven’s $21 billion acquisition of the Speedway convenience store chain in 2021 from Marathon Petroleum Corp. This was in addition to her already-full plate before the global pandemic gripped the nation. In 2018, she led the charge to develop 7-Eleven’s mission and vision statements that serve as a consistent, guiding light for the brand and its employees.

“Treasa has navigated 7-Eleven through the war on talent, implementing programs to improve employee retention and reduce turnover across the enterprise,” her nominator explained. “She is dedicated to fostering a great place to work by encouraging unique perspectives and talents amongst employees while also providing increased opportunities for women, underrepresented groups and veterans to start their own businesses as franchisees.”

IN HER ROLE as senior vice president and

chief human resources officer at 7-Eleven Inc., Treasa Bowers is responsible for all HR-related activities — no small feat in an organization that takes the top spot on the Convenience Store News Top 100 report year after year.

7-Eleven’s network spans more than 13,000 stores across much of the United States with a combination of corporate store operations and franchise locations.

Activities under Bowers’ leadership include steering the company’s talent strategy, talent acquisition, talent management, training and development, total rewards and employee relations for the Irving, Texas-based retailer.

Key to implementing her department’s initiatives, Bowers works closely with business leaders from across the organization, including CEO Joe DePinto, to understand their ever-changing talent needs and support them in their efforts to grow and develop their employees.

“Like many executives in the c-store space, Treasa has led during one of the most volatile periods of our industry’s history, beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic,” her nominator said. “Over these last few years, she has stood as a voice of calm and stability, focusing on her mission and leading us to tremendous success.”

“Over these last few years, [Treasa] has stood as a voice of calm and stability, focusing on her mission and leading us to tremendous success.”

— Bowers’ nominator Her journey at 7-Eleven began in 1983 when she joined the company as an operation management trainee in Salt Lake City. Over her tenure, she has been promoted to roles with increasing responsibility. In 2017, she became vice president of human resources and Women’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. In 2020, she was named 7-Eleven’s first chief diversity officer responsible for connecting the company’s DE&I strategy to business objectives with a special focus on leadership growth, cultural awareness and engagement, and talent management. She was promoted to her current role in 2022.

Among her accolades, Bowers has received the 7-Eleven Inc. Ship Shape Award (1993), Division Staff Person of the Year (1994) and Human Resources Excellence Award (2013). She was previously recognized in the Top Women in Convenience program as a mentor in 2017.

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COVER STORY

WOMAN OF THE YEAR:

Kathy Cunnington

LEBRAT IN CE G

EA 10 Y RS

Senior Vice President, Global Shared Services

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc./Circle K reporting, accounting, global insurance and risk, and payroll. Her teams are based in Charlotte, N.C., and Tempe, Ariz., as well as European offices in Riga, Latvia, Copenhagen, Denmark, and a call center in India.

Cunnington’s work is also not limited to Global Shared Services. She cofounded the ACT Women’s Council and is a member of the Executive Committee for Diversity and Inclusion. Additionally, she is a proud ally and executive sponsor of ACT’s PRIDE Business Resource Group.

She recently moderated the company’s global International Women’s Day Townhall celebrating trailblazing women throughout the company, and shared her experience as a woman leader and mother of three daughters.

KATHY CUNNINGTON has been a part of the Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ACT) and Circle K team since 2003. Within those 20 years, she has built up her experience through various financial leadership positions throughout the Laval, Quebecbased company.

“When I look back at my career, there are certainly regrets, but there are also those jewels that work out, create value in many ways and make you smile. One of those jewel moments was when I hired Kathy Cunnington,” said ACT President and CEO Brian Hannasch. “Her commitment to our stores and our team members is unparalleled, and it’s all done with a smile.

She has also been instrumental in our success in welcoming new companies into the Couche-Tard family, leading many integration aspects. Couche-Tard would not be where it is today without her.”

Cunnington oversees all of the company’s Global Shared Services needs and support for its internal and external clients. She closely supports every department and business unit across the organization by constantly identifying risks and opportunities to improve support.

As part of her Global Shared Services team, she has six direct reports and close to 1,000 indirect reports companywide.

Her departmental teams include financial

“It is impossible to imagine the company’s progress in diversity and inclusion without Kathy’s positive influence.”

— Ina Strand, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc./Circle K

“It is impossible to imagine the company’s progress in diversity and inclusion without Kathy’s positive influence,” said Chief People Officer and 2020 TWIC Woman of the Year Ina Strand.

In 2017, Cunnington was recognized as a senior-level leader in the Top Women in Convenience program.

“Kathy is a fundamental and leading contributor to the growth and success of Alimentation Couche-Tard/Circle K. She brings decades of experience in, and love for, retail and fuel,” said retired Chief Financial Officer Claude Tessier. “Through her inclusive, inspiring leadership style, innovative mindset and ability to engage peers, Kathy seeks solutions and new ways to integrate shared services into the foundational aspects of business success, rather than solely as a support management tool.”

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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS! Each of these women shine a bright light on the company as they bring their passion, creativity, and talent to Circle K. We are proud that they have been recognized among the Top Women in Convenience 2022.

To them, and all the amazing winners, congratulations!

WO M A N O F T H E Y E A R

Kathy Cunnington Senior Vice President Global Shared Services

R I S I N G S TA R

Markashia Phillips Market Manager Gulf Coast Business Unit

Play To Win If you’re looking to grow within a global company, get to know us at workwithus.circlek.com

M E N T O R AWA R D

Jennifer Dickey Store Manager Great Lakes Business Unit

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COVER STORY

WOMAN OF THE YEAR:

Kellie Janssen

LEBRAT IN CE G

EA 10 Y RS

President

Henry’s Foods Inc.

“In order to tell our story, own our space on the map for growth and always be beyond relevant, you have to know who you are.”

UPON JOINING HENRY’S FOODS INC. in 2012 as a member of the Alexandria, Minn.based company’s executive leadership team, Kellie Janssen set a path to become a part of the distributor’s fabric.

“When I joined the team, my first key play was to learn all the ins and outs of who is Henry’s Foods,” she explained.

“Many discoveries were made during this time, but the constant for framing my mindset of all things Henry’s was that our business may be about representing, selling and delivering products, but we need to focus on the excellence of delivering service. And if we can provide exceptional service in everything we do, we will always win.

“The manufacturers write the story for the product we represent; our job is to take it from there and make it work. This has become the mindset for all that we do,” she added.

Janssen established the vision, mission and value statement for a company that had been in business for more than eight decades. “I was coming into an 80-plus-year-old company that had purpose but didn’t necessarily have its identity in place,” she said. “Not a bad thing but in order to tell our story, own our space on the map for growth and always be beyond relevant, you

— Kellie Janssen

have to know who you are. This involved taking a cumulative of its history, ingesting that and turning it into … who is Henry’s as it relates to partnerships with manufacturers, our valued team members, and our communities; you have to play into all those things.

Knowing who, what and why is critical in being strong in all your pillars.”

Recently, Janssen led the company through its acquisition by AMCON Distributing Co., which was announced in December 2022. The move sets up Henry’s Foods for further growth — giving the company enhanced facilities, capacity and geographic reach to serve customers.

In addition to her role as president of Henry’s Foods, Janssen is deeply involved with the Convenience Distribution Association (CDA), where she has served on the board of directors and executive committee.

She served as board chair in 2022. She also serves on the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) board.

“Her knowledge in foodservice, retail, operations and finance provides CDA fresh insights into maintaining relevance and creating new conversation as to how CDA can provide increased value to supplier and distributor members,” her nominator said.

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The Convenience Distribution Association, representing convenience products distributors across the nation, congratulates all the Convenience Store News 2023 Top Women in Convenience honorees, with special congratulations to our CDA members:

W OMEN OF TH E Y EA R Kellie Janssen, Henry’s Foods Inc.

SENIOR- L EVEL L EA DERS Bethany Allee, PDI Technologies Inc. Jacinta Carter, Swisher Molly Grisham, Core-Mark International Shannon Leistra, Altria Group Distribution Co. Marisa Magnotta, The Hershey Co. Stephanie Nelson, ITG Brands Tracy Schmitt-Winters, Mars Wrigley Milinda Sill, McLane Co. Inc. Gina Simmons, Cheyenne International Cheryl Stinchfield, Premier Manufacturing Jennifer Treasone, Altria Group Distribution Co. Holly Veale, Core-Mark International

RISING STA RS

MEN TORS

Alexandria Deal, Swisher Kelly Haseotes, Maggie Hart, McLane Co. Inc. Altria Group Distribution Co. Jamie Johnson, Swisher Lauren O’Malley, Swedish Match NA Tove Korth, General Mills Convenience Susan Smith, Christina Kozuh, BIC USA Inc. Core-Mark International Lisa Krone, Ferrara Candy Co. Sandi Santa Ana, Ferrara Candy Co. Machaela Wilson, Reynolds American Inc.

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WOMAN OF THE YEAR:

Eva Rigamonti

LEBRAT IN CE G

EA 10 Y RS

Associate General Counsel/Executive Director of Public Policy

RaceTrac Inc. 12-state footprint on federal and state policy issues that include transportation, energy, payments, food, tobacco, environment, alcohol, data security and privacy, labor and tax.

In addition to helping RaceTrac navigate today’s landscape, Rigamonti also has an eye on the future.

She has worked alongside NACS, NATSO and SIGMA to advocate for a philosophical approach to electric vehicle (EV) charging markets that is aligned with a fuel retailer’s business model, working to ensure the convenience industry has a place in the future of mobility. She also advocates to preserve the role of convenience stores in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the nation’s most important anti-hunger program.

AS ALL convenience store executives know, the industry can be a hard place to navigate on account of not only the sheer number of rules and regulations, but also the ever-changing nature of them. With that in mind, Eva Rigamonti faces an extraordinary task every day as associate general counsel/executive director of public policy at Atlanta-based RaceTrac Inc.

In her role, Rigamonti advises, develops and executes legislative and regulatory strategies on behalf of RaceTrac on a variety of issues that affect the company’s ability to succeed in the marketplace at the federal and state levels.

According to her nominator, she is, in essence, RaceTrac’s “political risk management guru,” guiding and overseeing the organization’s political engagement and public affairs efforts. In helping the organization realize that what is good for the c-store industry is good for RaceTrac, she has expanded her role to include greater responsibilities as an industry thought leader and advisor.

Rigamonti came to RaceTrac in September 2020 and in roughly three years, she has pushed every department to think differently about the impact of public policy. She advises the RaceTrac and RaceWay brands across an expanding

“[Eva] builds relationships across the company, the industry and across the aisle — applying the knowledge she gleans from these relationships to shape and reshape the future.”

— Natalie Morhous, RaceTrac Inc. “While her external mission to represent the organization and the industry has become her most visible trademark, Eva’s heart is with RaceTrac, where she works internally to lift up others,” her nominator said. “She is an actively involved member of both LEAD and EMBRACE, RaceTrac’s business resource groups for women and people of color. By empowering others, she is having a tremendous impact on the organization’s diversity and inclusion initiatives and is helping to establish a new generation of leaders.”

Calling Rigamonti a visionary, RaceTrac President Natalie Morhous said her title does not do her justice.

“She builds relationships across the company, the industry and across the aisle — applying the knowledge she gleans from these relationships to shape and reshape the future,” Morhous said, pointing to Rigamonti’s efforts in advancing the relationship between the channel and the EV market. “She has connected with others to galvanize support on some of our industry’s most pressing issues. Just as important, Eva is a joy to work with. She makes her coworkers and colleagues feel valued and special each and every day. She is witty; she is kind; she is simply a gem, and the convenience industry is lucky to have her.”

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WOMAN OF THE YEAR:

Kathy Williams

LEBRAT IN CE G

EA 10 Y RS

Vice President, National Retail Sales

The Coca-Cola Co. customer collaborative business planning, according to her nominator.

Key to her 26 years of success at the company are her communication skills. “Kathy’s approach to effecting change starts with consistent, clear communication up and down the organization and ends with developing her teams’ capabilities to ensure they are equipped with the necessary tools and resources to succeed, including training and development programs,” her nominator said.

Williams is the leader of a $500 million annual revenue business spanning the eastern United States with more than 15 cross-functional teammates under her guidance.

She is directly responsible and accountable for the annual P&L, and last year delivered a compound annual growth rate of 8 percent to 10 percent volume growth, and 11 percent organic growth vs. the prior year.

KATHY WILLIAMS serves as vice president of

national retail sales at The Coca-Cola Co. However, her title could also be coach.

Williams’ responsibilities fall into four main areas: leading and coaching a team of senior-level leaders; developing and advancing business relationships with key customers; providing collaborative thought leadership for C-suite convenience retail industry leaders; and driving results for The Coca-Cola Co.’s convenience retail business.

With more than two decades of experience at The Coca-Cola Co., Williams is well-versed on the convenience channel.

Though she tested the waters in various channels throughout her career, she found her niche in convenience after becoming a national account executive in 2004. In that role, she led national headquarters calls for two high-profile national convenience store chains, and imagined and executed the first “with food” bundle for Tulsa, Okla.-based QuikTrip Corp., overdelivering against objectives and gaining space and share.

Since moving to her current position in 2013, her strategic leadership and passion for the convenience retail channel have grown to new heights. Within the company, she is known as an expert in channel and customer planning, with a proven track record of excellence in advanced

“Kathy’s approach to effecting change starts with consistent, clear communication up and down the organization and ends with developing her teams’ capabilities to ensure they are equipped with the necessary tools and resources to succeed.”

— Williams’ nominator Numbers aside, Williams leads by example and demonstrates the values and behaviors she expects from her team, according to her nominator.

Beyond The Coca-Cola Co., she is a devoted mentor and advocate for female executives as a longtime member and leader within NextUp, formerly known as the Network of Executive Women. She is also a longtime member of NACS, where she previously served on the exhibition committee, and is a member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum.

Williams was recognized as a senior-level leader in the 2014 Top Women in Convenience program. Additionally, she has been awarded numerous Most Valuable Supplier awards by customers, a clear indication of her exceptional ability to provide valuable service and expertise.

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Bonnie Ascioti

Glennie Bench

Yesway

Southwest Georgia Oil Co.

Director of Corporate Human Resources

President & Chief Operating Officer

• In her role, Ascioti provides direction and counsel across the Yesway organization regarding every aspect of the employee lifecycle, participates in various audit processes related to the business, and is responsible for compliance within the HR function, managing and mitigating risk.

• Directly reporting to the company’s CEO Mike Harrell, Bench oversees the leadership team and works with operations, marketing and foodservice to develop and implement the organization’s strategic vision. She also leads the company’s wholesale petroleum division.

• She led an objective review of Yesway’s HR organization in close collaboration with an HR peer and other leaders across the business, making recommendations on changes to the HR structure to better support the business. She also helped decrease labor costs through role consolidation and expansion of responsibilities.

• She is an integral part of the company’s growth and is at the center of all real estate transactions.

In 2015, she spearheaded the effort by Southwest Georgia Oil to purchase 44 S&S stores, more than doubling the company’s SunStop convenience store network.

• Ascioti significantly improved stakeholder confidence in the corporate HR team by modeling positive and collaborative leadership behaviors in high-stress situations, increasing collaboration and accountability within the HR team, and providing stability for the department, her nominator said.

• Bench stays on top of convenience store trends and developed the design concept for the new SunStop stores. Southwest Georgia Oil currently has $15 million to $20 million in capital expenditure projects, which include expanding diesel lanes, interior and exterior renovations at existing stores, and ground-up new stores.

Bethany Allee

Debi Boffa

PDI Technologies Inc.

TravelCenters of America Inc.

Senior Vice President, Marketing & Education

• Allee is one of 16 members of the senior leadership team at PDI, who together guide the direction and success of the global organization. She is the highest-ranking marketing executive within the company and is expected to be its next chief marketing officer.

• She is known among her senior leadership peers to be an executive coach as she is committed to building one-to-one relationships that help guide and elevate each member of the team in their corporate presence, both within the organization and in their external appearances.

• Allee oversees the annual PDI Users Conference, which returned in 2022 after a three-year pandemic hiatus. Under her leadership, the return of the conference included attracting new audiences, with 50 percent of 2022 attendees coming for the first time.

CEO-Designate

• Following bp’s acquisition of TravelCenters of America (TA), Boffa was named CEO-designate of TA and is working closely with the travel center operator’s leadership team to ensure TA is set up for continued growth and success. She previously served as vice president of convenience and president of the bp Retail Operating Organization (ROO).

• Boffa is not new to integration efforts. After being named president of bp’s Thorntons network in late 2021, she led the Thorntons integration project and helped build bp’s U.S. ROO, combining Thorntons’ company-owned/company-operated footprint and store support capabilities with bp’s ampm franchise team on the West Coast, along with bp assets.

• She has more than 25 years of experience in the convenience and fuel industry in New Zealand,

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ts t

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To our innovativ tulations to y tor

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Top W

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tion

pdit

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Australia and the United States, having worked in roles across retail, sales, marketing, operations and strategy with a background in engineering.

Jennifer Bridges Senior Vice President of Asset Development, Real Estate & Maintenance

Murphy USA Inc. • Serving as the senior vice president of asset development, Bridges’ vision has transformed the asset development program by solidifying the network planning strategy, evolving the new store development process, establishing the property management group, and transforming the way Murphy USA approaches maintenance.

• She has led several strategic initiatives at Murphy USA, including maintenance transformation and the creation of the Maintenance Response Team, the reorganization of asset development, the expansion of new store growth strategies to a larger pipeline, and the introduction of network planning to store investment decisions.

• As a leader of the company’s capital allocation campaign in 2022, Bridges drove the strategy around portfolio growth and investment, as well as helped the organization understand the trade-offs with alternative capital investments.

Carolyn Brown

Head of Commerce Marketing

Anheuser-Busch • Brown tapped her more than 10 years of experience in the beer industry and digital commerce space to bring new solutions to drive Anheuser-Busch’s c-store business as digitized shopping increased in penetration post-COVID. • She took a lead role in reshaping the company’s 2023 commerce marketing strategy to drive more explicit focus against the convenience store shopper in a meaningful way, including researching shopper groups that over-index to the channel and their media consumption habits relative to the general population.

• Brown worked with Anheuser-Busch’s in-house creative agency DraftLine to create relevant custom creative for digital media executions, and developed a new media mix and geographic target set to maximize the impact of media pressure while securing budget allocation to operationalize the campaign in 2023.

Jacinta Carter

Executive Vice President, Human Resources – People & Culture

Swisher • Carter has successfully transformed Swisher’s approach to employee engagement, talent management, organizational development, compliance, corporate communications, and employee and labor relations. People, not positions, are her priority when working with colleagues.

• She has oversight of the strategic direction and leadership of Swisher’s human resources functions. This encompasses talent acquisition, performance management, learning and development, corporate communications, compensation, compliance and many other nuanced areas.

• Over the past year, Carter rolled out an allencompassing professional development program, dubbed Me@Swisher, to provide employees with the tools and resources they need to work and grow within the company. Additionally, she standardized and streamlined countless processes and procedures, introduced new technologies to improve her team’s effectiveness, and advanced operational changes to improve the responsiveness, reliability and sustainability of the HR function.

Jessica Catanzaro

Director of Purchasing

Green Valley Grocery • Catanzaro oversees all Green Valley Grocery retail locations’ revenue, gross profit dollars, inventory levels, and the ultimate profitability of the company.

She is also responsible for marketing, including sponsorships, community requests, and interior and exterior graphics.

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Celebrating our female leaders who are paving the way!

SR.LEVEL LEADER JENNIFER BRIDGES Senior Vice President, Asset Development

Your commitment and contributions are fueling an even brighter future for our employees, company and our industry!

Congratulations to all of the 2023 Convenience Store News Top Women in Convenience winners SR. LEVEL LEADER and honorees, including STACEY MONTELEONE our own Murphy USA and Director, Sales and QuickChek female Operations leaders.

We are Big-Hearted, Brave, Empowered and United.

We are Murphy USA.

RISING STAR

JOIN US! Learn more at jobs.murphyusa.com

MANDY STEINDLKWIECIEN Manager, Learning & Development and Performance Management

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• She works closely with the real estate team and general contractors on new store builds, and is responsible for sourcing, ordering and tracking equipment for the builds.

• According to her nominator, Catanzaro’s strong sense of urgency, initiative and drive to execute tasks — with an emphasis on working with and through people in the process — has helped create a culture of excellence at Green Valley Grocery and its portfolio of 79 convenience stores.

• Over the past year, Doran and her team have focused on increasing education and awareness of the many benefits offered to Casey’s team members. This includes improved benefits platform design, multiple education campaigns and a newly introduced Total Rewards Promise.

• She leverages team member feedback from a benefits survey to make adjustments to the benefits offerings. This insight, along with market research, has resulted in a three-year strategic roadmap of potential additions or improvements to the offerings in the coming years.

Sandy Deel

People & Culture Services Delivery Senior Manager

bp • Throughout 2022, Deel was director of human resources services and benefits for Thorntons LLC. With Thorntons’ integration into bp, she took on her new role and title on Jan. 1, 2023. It is a similar level of director responsibility in the organization, but now being part of a much larger organization with layers above Thorntons.

• She is responsible for providing human resources support to the business functions for bp’s new U.S. Retail Operating Organization (ROO). This includes numerous special projects as the ROO is still coming together as a business structure and has plans for major growth.

• From May 2022 to April 2023, Deel led Thorntons’ efforts in working with a global team at bp to build and implement Workday, a human resources information system for U.S. frontline retail staff, transitioning the Thorntons store team members onto Workday in March 2023.

Nancy Doran

Director, Benefits & Wellness

Casey’s General Stores Inc. • Doran is responsible for executing benefits, recognition and wellness strategies for Casey’s. She has oversight of a nearly $84 million budget associated with self-funded benefits plans, the company’s retirement plan, paid leave plans, and services contracted to administer the plans.

Julie Edwards Senior National Account Director

Beatbox Beverages • Edwards is responsible for developing and increasing BeatBox’s business and executing the sales and marketing programs for key national chains, including Circle K, QuikTrip Corp., RaceTrac Inc., Sheetz Inc., GPM Investments LLC and Wawa Inc. • BeatBox’s growth as the No. 1 fastest growing 500-milliter wine brand and No. 2 ready-to-drink beverage in convenience is in large part thanks to Edwards’ leadership. As the national account director for Circle K, her work resulted in volume increases of 70 percent and similarly, QuikTrip saw a 31 percent volume increase from 2021 to 2022.

• Over the course of her 25-year career, Edwards has been recognized with numerous leadership and sales awards. In 2023, she was honored with a peer recognition award at the BeatBox annual company summit.

Molly Grisham Senior Human Resources Director

Core-Mark International • Shortly into her tenure at Core-Mark International, Grisham was tasked with the integration of all functions of Core-Mark and Eby-Brown. She partnered with each individual leader to ensure there was connectivity,

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optimization and synergy identified throughout.

• In 2022, she took the entire organization through a talent review process, helping to identify and support rising star talent and successors for critical positions.

This led to the introduction of a rising stars talent development program, aligning key talent with executive leader mentorships.

• Grisham is responsible for the development and execution of diversity, inclusion and belonging initiatives. She successfully rolled out unconscious bias training to the company’s leaders, while planning and executing celebrations and educational sessions to bring further equity and support of underrepresented communities.

Mary Handorf Director, Continuous Improvement

Casey’s General Stores Inc. • Handorf develops and supports the vision, direction and strategy for productivity and process improvements within store operations using a hybrid top-down and bottom-up approach for Casey’s 2,500-plus stores across 16 states in the Midwest.

• She is responsible for assessing year-over-year productivity improvements, EBITDA growth, and manages the KPIs and reporting methods to track and report process improvements. Over the past 12 months, she has provided leadership around initiatives that unlocked $8 million in EBITDA growth.

• This year, Handorf was one of only four leaders selected to address all of the company’s leaders at the annual Casey’s Commitment Conference.

Her selection is a testament to her value to the organization as a whole.

Mary-Rose Hannum

Vice President & Chief Product Officer

Wawa Inc. • Hannum is responsible for the entirety of Wawa’s in-store offer, from fresh food and beverages to packaged beverages and snacks.

She is accountable, along with the chief merchandis-

ing officer, for a $2.5 billion merchandise gross profit budget.

• She took on her current role in October 2021 and drove 2022 profits to a record level, well ahead of expectations, and has energized the entire organization.

• Hannum has been with Wawa for more than 20 years, continually progressing in responsibility, from supply chain to store design to key implementations, and finally to driving the retailer’s fresh food and beverage offer. According to her nominator, she is regarded as “the poster child” of the Wawa associate achieving great results by building consensus and strong positive relationships throughout the organization.

Megan Harcey Vice President of Human Resources

Kwik Trip Inc. • Harcey is the primary leader for all the human resources functions for Kwik Trip and its 36,000plus team members. The human resources department’s annual budget is $14.1 million, and the talent acquisition department budget is $7.8 million. The company’s total rewards spend is $1 billion.

• Her leadership of the talent acquisition team has successfully ensured a high-quality workforce for all the company’s new stores and markets. Her team’s success has meant Kwik Trip has one of the lowest turnover rates in the convenience store industry.

• Together, Harcey’s teams work tirelessly to help fulfill Kwik Trip’s purpose of creating a thriving culture where coworkers grow, advance, have fun and love their jobs.

Stacey Jobe

Director of Operations

American Natural • Jobe has been a leader in the transformation of the American Natural brand from a café concept to a modern fast-casual platform that has broader

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Congratulations Megan!

Megan Harcey

Vice President of Human Resources Inducted into the Top Women in Convenience Class of 2023

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appeal and is meaningfully different and special compared to other convenience and restaurant concepts.

• She led her team through the process of optimizing the American Natural Eatery menu for quality, profitability and efficiency. Through this very thorough review of every ingredient, recipe and process, Jobe kept her team motivated to uncover all the challenges and barriers to consistency, streamline processes to improve speed of service, and improve any and every aspect of quality.

• Her partnerships with local vendors have created exceptional quality and differentiation at American Natural in everything from the bread for the sandwiches to the coffee that is sourced from a local craft roaster.

Kendra Keller

Vice President & General Manager of North America

Dover Fueling Solutions • Keller’s sphere of influence spans every aspect of the business across Dover Fueling Solutions’ (DFS) largest region, North America. This includes accountability for annual financial targets and plans, setting product strategy, as well as executing product design, supporting customers from a sales and service perspective, and sustaining quality control within operations and product development.

• Under her direction, DFS expanded its offerings by introducing multimedia dispensers to the market.

In January 2023, DFS launched the AX12 dispenser, which when combined with DX Promote, enables site owners to concentrate on managing their business while scheduled media generates revenue at the dispenser.

• Keller leads DFS’ North American DE&I Council and is the executive sponsor for its Women’s Network.

Additionally, she recently won the 2023 Executive of the Year award from the Austin Regional Manufacturers Association in Texas.

Anna Kjerrumgaard

Senior Category Manager

RaceTrac Inc. • Kjerrumgaard oversees the center store business for RaceTrac, working with multiple companies to ensure the retailer has the right mix in the stores.

She’s involved in setting up promotions, new item distribution and optimizing the category sets.

• The senior category manager has been instrumental in the growth of RaceTrac as the company enters the travel center industry, a process she began more than eight years ago — four years before RaceTrac opened the doors of its first travel center. RaceTrac now has more than 40 travel centers or extended diesel offerings.

• Kjerrumgaard joined the company in 2015 as the category manager for services. Two years later, she advocated for additional responsibility and absorbed the general merchandise category. She now serves as the senior category manager over snacks, general merchandise, services and travel centers.

Deborah Kociban

Regional Director

Sheetz Inc. • Kociban manages Sheetz’s Region No. 1 and in this role, oversees the strategies, accountability and operations of 133 convenience stores in Ohio and West Virginia, which encompass 3,113 total employees.

• She serves as a liaison and conduit between the store operations employees and corporate departments. She also ensures the successful execution of store-related strategies and initiatives.

• Under Kociban’s leadership, Sheetz was able to successfully enter Columbus, Ohio, with its first store in 2021. Her strategic planning and alignment of the new market with the company’s goals led to game-changing results. The retailer was able to open 22 stores in Columbus since 2021, including 10 stores in 2022 alone. She is now leading the way as Sheetz expands into its next new state, Michigan.

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Shannon Leistra

Stacey Monteleone

NJOY

Murphy USA Inc.

President & CEO • Formerly senior vice president and consumer experience officer at Altria Client Services LLC, Leistra was named the president and CEO of NJOY in June.

She previously held various Altria operating company leadership positions, including president and CEO of U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., and led the integration of Helix.

• Her recent accomplishments at Altria include the integration of a new business unit and launch of on! nicotine pouches, and the launch of Cope Rewards, the first and only national rewards program for a moist smokeless tobacco brand.

• Leistra helped create the newly formed Consumer Experience Organization in the first quarter of 2023, and is the executive sponsor of Altria’s Hispanic Employee Resource Group, Si, which established the Hispanic Caucus and Sponsorship Program for midlevel Hispanic leaders in 2022.

Marisa Magnotta

Director – US Convenience, Strategic West

The Hershey Co. • Magnotta has held multiple roles during her 11 years with The Hershey Co. She currently leads a team consisting of nine customer sales executives across the central part of the United States. She’s responsible for all distributor and retailer business in her area; hiring, training and performance management for her team; and a cross section of budgets.

• She has been recognized internally multiple times as a top performer for the company, and has been acknowledged by her retailer and distributor partners for her collaboration efforts and engagement with their businesses.

• Magnotta participates in several business resource groups at Hershey, alongside her work in the company’s formal mentorship program. Recently, she was assigned to a board position with NACS.

Division Director

• Monteleone’s responsibilities as division director include overseeing approximately $1.5 billion in annual revenue across 150 stores in Murphy USA’s Midwest region. Among other projects, she focuses on the continual improvement of store opening processes from the pro forma stage to post-opening analysis.

• She helped lead the successful rollout and change management of EBT and SNAP benefits across the company’s network of stores, which led to significant increases in merchandise sales.

• As president of the Murphy USA Disaster Relief Foundation (Need Fund) from 2017 to 2021, Monteleone updated the fund’s bylaws and implemented robust reporting and spend-tracking mechanisms. Her work helped to quadruple fund contributions by the end of her tenure and ensured hundreds of in-need team members received aid quickly.

Stephanie Nelson

Director of Brand Marketing – KOOL

ITG Brands • As one of the few female directors in the business, Nelson leads the U.S. strategy for menthol and P&L oversight, including budget and marketing spends. She is also responsible for leading a sizeable direct and indirect team, as well as serving as a key mentor for many working under her.

• Nelson heads up all key marketing activities, including the creation of brand equity and brand ideas, for ITG’s leading brand KOOL and ensures the company has a strong long-term innovation plan. She oversaw the creation of the KOOL “Feel the Vibe” campaign.

• She has been a top-rated performer within the ITG Brands marketing team, with her work on the KOOL business getting shared and approved by the Imperial Brands plc board.

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CLASS OF 2023

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Jenny Odom

Vice President, National Accounts, Convenience

Constellation Brands Inc. • Odom manages the strategic vision and framework for the national account convenience channel as it pertains to account sales, sales execution and category management. Her sphere of influence covers seven national account chains, including 7-Eleven Inc., Circle K, QuikTrip Corp., RaceTrac Inc., ampm, Thorntons and EG Group.

• As vice president of convenience for CBI Beer, Odom led the national account team to win “Supplier of the Year” for both 7-Eleven and ampm.

• Odom’s leadership extends outside of her work directly for the company. She participated in Constellation’s Executive Development Program at Harvard University in 2017 and served as a leadership coach for the same program in 2019. She also often participates in the NACS Leadership Forum and State of the Industry.

Tracy SchmittWinters Sales Director, Convenience East

Mars Wrigley • Schmitt-Winters started in the convenience channel in 2012 and is currently the only female director on a team of four. She is responsible for leading customer sales activity to ensure long-term partnerships that promote growth and for the recruitment, hiring, development and retention of talent on her team.

• She oversees seven associates, 40 accounts and $270 million in annual volume, and is an active member in several of the company’s associate resource groups.

• In 2011, Schmitt-Winters was inducted into the Mars Tie & Scarf Club, a recognition awarded to only the top 1 percent of sales associates with at least 10 years of experience. She also received the very first C-Store Climber award, which recognizes those who demonstrate a “never give up” attitude and behavior.

Shianna Peace Loyalty Manager

Sheetz Inc. • Reporting to the director of brand marketing, Peace leads the strategic direction of loyalty and rewards programs at Sheetz. Her responsibilities include budget oversight and coordination, collaboration on various corporate initiatives, overseeing the expansion of technical capabilities for the loyalty platform, and representing the brand/loyalty team in vendor meetings, on market rides and at conferences.

• A U.S Air Force veteran, Peace has been with Sheetz for seven years, moving from hospitality program manager to her current position in 2020.

Her leadership and forward thinking have been integral to growing Sheetz’s loyalty and digital space, according to her nominator.

• Outside of the company, she is an active volunteer with a local community food bank that her family has organized and donated to for many years.

Kristin Seabrook

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Counsel & Secretary

Pilot Co. • As part of the executive leadership team, Seabrook serves as the chief legal advisor to the board of managers, CEO and executive management team, providing counsel on all legal matters impacting the company.

• Since joining Pilot, she has built the legal department from three team members to 47, and added leadership of compliance functions, along with privacy oversight. To date, her work has included the investigation and resolution of a 2013 federal investigation and related class actions, as well as advisement to the board of managers on mitigating risks.

• A committed member of Pilot’s mentorship program, Seabrook feels that successful mentoring includes listening and having honest conversations while not being afraid to share her own mistakes and how she’s learned from them.

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SENIOR-LEVEL LEADERS

Kay Segal

Gina Simmons

Business Accelerator Team

Cheyenne International

Founding & Managing Partner • Dedicated to the Business Accelerator Team’s philosophy of existing to help others succeed, Segal oversees a seven-member team with a combined 400 years of experience. Her responsibilities include development strategy for the company, project assessment and internal management, as well as client acquisition, growth and retention.

• Beyond her consultant work, Segal is also committed to helping the wider industry. She has assisted with NACS Show education since 2019, in addition to serving on NACS’ Exhibitor Advisory Committee. She has additionally acted as a moderator and organizer for SIGMA’s Retail Marketing & Foodservice Share Groups.

• An accomplished connector and consultant for the c-store industry, Segal believes leaders must keep an open mind, continually add to their sphere of knowledge and build upon past experiences and insights.

Milinda Sill

Director of Information Systems Administration

McLane Co. Inc.

Director, National Accounts • Simmons oversees national accounts across the country for large-sized retail chains and multihouse distributors. She is responsible for all aspects of selling, distribution, branding, merchandising and execution in national chains.

• She not only helped push Cheyenne to become the No. 1 filtered cigar with large chain distribution gains, but also helped protect the company’s position by securing exclusivity in large national chains and adding new product SKUs. Her work has helped Cheyenne earn a slot as Convenience Store News’ Category Captain in OTP/Cigars four times.

• Simmons previously won a Top Women in Convenience award for senior leadership in 2020 and was recognized by Cheyenne as an International Marketing Star of the Month.

Margaret Sotrop

Vice President of Design

GSP Retail

• Sill joined McLane in April 2000 as an executive administrator for information systems and has subsequently taken on various roles within the company. In her current position as head of IT administration, she oversees critical functions such as the project management office, IT audit and compliance management, data retention oversight and loss prevention, disaster recovery and business continuity.

• Reporting directly to the CEO, Sotrop oversees a creative department of nearly 40 people who work in branding, retail design, industrial design, graphic design and project management.

Projects include clients’ retail environments designs, branding, store renovations, graphics production for signage, photography and video production for customer-facing marketing.

• Under her guidance, McLane created an information systems PMO office, implemented an ITAM solution for IT asset management, and put in place a SaaS procure-to-pay solution.

• Sotrop serves as the intellectual and creative force behind GSP’s retail environments line of business, helping clients understand what their customer-facing needs are and assisting them in finding their brand voice.

• Sill is currently quarterbacking McLane’s IT transformation for 2023, a task that requires a tremendous amount of subject matter knowledge, relationship-building with experts and the ability to communicate effectively with C-level executives.

• Having spent 18 years working at Macy’s, Sotrop brings a sophisticated, upscale perspective to the convenience channel, coordinating with c-store executives to create spaces that both attract customers and encourage them to come back and shop again.

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SENIOR-LEVEL LEADERS

Megan Sprenger Head of Small Format, Drug & Dollar Shopper Marketing

Anheuser-Busch • A veteran of the shopper marketing space and two-time Effie Award winner, Sprenger leads a team of shopper marketing managers and supervises a budget of $20 million for her respective customers. She oversees program strategy and campaign development across Tier 1 small-format national accounts, including 7-Eleven Inc. and Circle K. • After taking over her current position, Sprenger moved the channel away from tactical programs to a clear strategy aligned with the company’s priorities for omnichannel programming, allowing Anheuser-Busch to gain stronger results across its top brands and deepen relationships with key customers.

• Sprenger has additionally taken on a leadership role with the Path to Purchase Institute, where she sits on the advisory panel and BevAlc Committee.

Lori Buss Stillman

Vice President, Research & Education

NACS • Stillman began at NACS in research in 2019. Under her leadership, the association launched THRIVR, a marketing platform that enables convenience retailers to manage digital listings, social media, reviews and online reputation. She currently oversees the entirety of NACS’ educational programming and event content.

• She is responsible for more than half of the 250 industry presentations NACS conducts per year, including the organization’s second-largest event, the State of the Industry Summit. Stillman also has increased the benefits NACS offers to members through transformed research offerings and new financial and operational tools.

• A veteran of senior leadership at numerous companies, Stillman has received various honors for her work, including being twice awarded the Arthur C. Nielsen Chairman’s Award for leadership and enterprise value creation.

Cheryl Stinchfield Regional Account Manager, Central

Premier Manufacturing Inc. • Now in her eighth year with Premier Manufacturing, Stinchfield currently leads all sales and marketing activities in Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma. Her portfolio of products includes factory made cigarettes, premium cigars, pipe tobacco and cigarette tubes.

• Stinchfield’s leadership can be seen in two recent partnerships. She first implemented a plan for a potential partner that helped them hit their quarterly target goals and delivered a control label cigarette brand. She also opened up new product offerings in a targeted state by partnering with another direct buyer that covered the independent retailer market.

• She strives to lead her peers and coworkers by example, believing a leader must be able to inspire others around them, follow their values, and be honest with themselves and others.

Sallee Taylor Director, Sales

Advantage Solutions • Second in seniority on a team of 61 associates, Taylor serves as the broker of record for the Mars Wrigley convenience channel team and is responsible for managing a multimillion-dollar annual trade budget for more than 800 customers.

• She brings a wealth of channel, category, customer and client expertise to her role as director of sales. As the go-to person for all things R2 Solutions/Advantage and Mars Wrigley related, her leadership has been instrumental in ensuring the R2 Solutions c-store HQ team have all the resources they need to succeed.

• Taylor regularly receives recognition and praise from her colleagues and has been active in various industry associations, including NACS and NextUp (formerly, the Network of Executive Women).

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SENIOR-LEVEL LEADERS

Nan Thomae Vice President, Human Resources – Field Operations

Casey’s General Stores Inc. • Thomae works directly with the chief operations officer and operations team to provide HR leadership across all aspects of Casey’s field operations, including stores, supply chain, fuel, service and maintenance, real estate, asset protection and operations excellence.

• A respected and sought-after business partner, she provides support for everything from leadership development initiatives to organizational design to driving new standards of operating through initiatives like DEI and strategic planning.

• This fiscal year, Thomae led an initiative to improve team member retention, seeing improvements in all areas of operations from store team members to grocery transportation drivers, with a specific focus on store managers resulting in a 32 percent reduction in turnover. These rates have been called out and acknowledged in quarterly investor calls.

Jennifer Treasone

Senior Section Sales Director

Altria Group Distribution Co. • Leading a team of approximately 150 field sales employees, Treasone is responsible for selling and executing retail store programs, and working with retail partners to support their business strategies.

• In her prior role as a senior director of accounts, she took an agile approach to collaboration across Altria’s account teams to accelerate learnings, simplify processes and better position teams to help their customers. She also cocreated the AGDC Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (IDE) Council to identify opportunities to accelerate the company’s progress toward its IDE goals and improve employee experiences.

• In her current position, Treasone has already stood up a project to reimagine Altria’s quality call process and planning approach, with the goal of increasing support to both customers and Altria’s operating companies.

Bria Troy

Vice President, Commercial Planning

PepsiCo Inc. • Troy leads a team of 35 professional employees and oversees all commercial planning for PepsiCo’s $26 billion North American beverage business spanning all brands and all go-to-market systems across all channels of business.

• She is accountable for $1.3 billion in innovation revenue, manages a direct budget of $3 million, and oversees all commercial activity in the marketplace across four divisions, customer teams and brand teams. Troy also leads the period priority calendar, which provides the sales teams with monthly focus areas, clear deliverables, and metrics to measure against.

• Overall, Troy rates as one of the top leaders in the company, with strong organizational health scores at 89 percent and top engagement scores at 93 percent across her team.

Holly Veale

Vice President, Purchasing

Core-Mark International • Veale leads all purchasing activity for the Core-Mark convenience segment of Performance Food Group, overseeing $26 billion in company sales.

Her team of 130 employees is responsible for all purchasing activity of resale products, managing fill rates, generating buying income and managing inventory.

• Over the past year, she led the integration of the Core-Mark and Eby-Brown organizations into a single integrated purchasing department. She also navigated her team through the lingering challenges of supply chain interruptions.

• As someone who prioritizes servant leadership and is viewed by her peers as a highly respected advocate for the health of the convenience channel, Veale has been appointed to several positions in industry governance, including spots on the boards of NATO and the Convenience Distribution Association.

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Danielle LaGuardia

Devan Lombardi

Kristen Wilk

Bria Troy

We proudly celebrate our Top Women in Convenience and the integral role they play within our industry.

©2023 PepsiCo, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Amy Ahmad Senior Associate, General Counsel

Pilot Co. • Ahmad oversees legal operations that include serving midstream businesses, DEF, transportation, supply agreements, licensing, tax, government contracts and more. Her team has a direct impact on every Pilot location.

• As renewable fuels and green energy are increasingly emphasized, she works with Pilot’s retail locations on numerous issues related to their distribution and labeling, and ensuring state and federal compliance. She was also instrumental in writing and securing a federal grant for stations that require upgrades to become compatible with E15.

• According to her nominator, Ahmad has the ability to take what she already knows, dig deep into new subjects and then act successfully on completely new challenges; she is expected to make a positive impact on Pilot and the industry as a whole for years to come.

Evelyn Alba Loyalty Marketing Coordinator

Yesway • Alba is responsible for the execution of all promotional pricing, in-app offers and customer service troubleshooting for the Yesway and Allsup’s Rewards program while managing all program offers, campaigns and communications.

RISING STARS

Rachel Alden

Digital Portfolio Manager

Sheetz Inc. • Alden’s responsibilities include the strategic execution and management of Sheetz’s portfolio of consumer digital products.

She also partners with the retailer’s operations team to improve systems and processes that make customer-facing platforms more efficient for store-level employees.

• Some of her recent accomplishments include introducing an updated online ordering system, rolling out a new Pump & Pay feature in Sheetz’s mobile app, launching an industry-first integration to feed tobacco offers into Sheetz’s mobile loyalty program with real-time ID verification, and raising topline digital profitability by 30 percent.

• Her nominator describes Alden as a model for leadership within the organization whose contributions are a major factor in why Sheetz continues to be considered an innovator within the convenience industry.

Lydia Becker Recruitment Manager

Rutter’s • Becker oversees Rutter’s recruiting team and management of in-store career advancement programs.

She recruits for roles ranging from store management to technicians to entry-level corporate positions,

• She is known for tackling new projects with a sense of urgency and serving as a vital part of Yesway’s marketing organization, earning her internal recognition for her positive impact on the company’s retail operations.

• Based on her guest-first dedication to customer service, campaign management and development of personalized member messaging, Alba was a major contributor to the rewards program’s 20 percent year-over-year growth in participation rates last year.

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Say to women in convenience Senior Level Leader

Bonnie Ascioti Director of Corporate Human Resources

RISING STAR

Congratulations

to our top women in convenience!

We couldn’t do what we do – without YOU!

And a special thank you and congratulations to our past winners!

Evelyn Alba Loyalty Marketing Coordinator

Ericka Ayles, Women of the Year 2021, Senior Level Leader 2019 Jasmine Struble, Rising Star 2022 Dana Renfro, Rising Star 2021 Lisa Ham, Rising Star 2019

yesway.com

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and communicates daily with store management teams, operations and hiring managers to provide an effective feedback loop on all staffing.

• Starting out as a part-time Rutter’s team member while in college, Becker was quickly promoted upon stepping into a full-time recruiter role. She is known as an excellent mentor who is always looking to expand her knowledge and skills.

• In December 2022, she received Rutter’s Corporate Making a Difference Award. She is viewed as a valued team member who continues to grow and develop her career.

KeShana Braxton

Talent Acquisition Manager

OnCue • Braxton established and manages OnCue’s recruitment and hiring practices as a growing operation. She is involved in decisions spanning human resources, talent acquisition, workplace culture and employee satisfaction, retention and mediation.

• Her influence reaches every aspect of OnCue and she consistently goes above and beyond to ensure that the company’s mission is fulfilled and exemplified by each employee she hires. She is known for her contagious kindness and advocacy for both employees and OnCue as a company.

• As her team has grown, Braxton has helped many young professionals develop their careers and been instrumental in raising employee engagement. She is a direct factor in OnCue being named one of the top workplaces in Oklahoma six times and in the United States three times, according to her nominator.

Andrea Brooke Manager of Tobacco

Wawa Inc. • Brooke defines and executes Wawa’s digital and traditional marketing plans for total tobacco. She oversees and leads partnerships with vendors and manufacturers to optimize programming and achieve the retailer’s strategic goals.

• Her influence on tobacco strategy and implementation extends across six states and Washington, D.C., as well as eight expansion states. She also oversees the team responsible for execution of pricing, program elections and promotional implementation at store level.

• In her role, Brooke has launched multiple creative initiatives that directly resulted in sales volume growth and increased loyalty redemption rates within the last year. She is viewed as a strong leader within Wawa and the overall industry’s tobacco space.

Alma Cardenas

Company-Owned, Company-Operated Business Consultant

Chevron USA Inc. • Cardenas is responsible for the operations of a territory of 15 company-owned, company-operated stores and is a subject matter expert for various Chevron support groups and global retail organizations. She leads and mentors based on the belief that an empowered team will perform at a high level.

• Her territory is often selected for running new company initiatives and programs, such as ChevronTexaco Loyalty, Chevron Car Wash subscription service and a neurodiverse hiring program for employees with disabilities. Insights from these pilots are used companywide to improve the customer experience.

• Cardenas has led multiple projects that drive efficiency and increase profitability. Her continuous improvement efforts have been instrumental in helping the company achieve its core objectives and implement key learnings.

Cathlin Carlson

Product Manager

Casey’s General Stores Inc. • Carlson partners with Casey’s guest loyalty, digital marketing, advertising and technology teams

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OCTOBER 4, 2023

AT L A N TA , G E O R G I A

S PONS OR S H IP S AV AIL ABLE The 10th anniversary Convenience Store News

BENEFITS OF BEING

Top Women in Convenience awards program

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will recognize the integral role women play in

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convenience retailing. Women will be honored from the retailer, wholesaler and supplier communities in four different categories: LEARN MORE:

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• Women of the Year • Senior Level Leaders • Rising Stars • Mentors

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Attendees will include the 2023 Top Women in Convenience winners, retail colleagues, manufacturers, distributors, key industry associations, industry luminaries and thought leaders and solution providers • Establish stronger retailer relationships • Create a positive impression of your brands among existing and prospective business partners

CSNEWSTWIC.COM Platinum Sponsors:

Founding & Presenting Sponsor:

Corporate Empowerment Award Sponsor:

Gold Sponsors:

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FOR SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION RON LOWY Associate Brand Director/West Coast

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to aid the realization of the company’s strategy and goals. She leads discovery efforts around ideation, evaluation and prioritization of capabilities to ensure Casey’s is building the right solution based on market trends, competitor analysis, data-driven insights and organizational strategy.

• In collaboration with Casey’s technology teams, Carlson drives development using agile and scrum methodologies to deliver incremental value while allowing the company to learn and evolve through experimentation and guest insights.

• She consistently demonstrates informal leadership and mentorship while also taking on a formal leadership role in Casey’s summer internship program. Carlson also has an active voice in shaping the product roadmap for Casey’s marketing technology teams, and continually demonstrates her ability to deliver impactful results.

Sarah Clark

portfolio of investments for GetGo’s fuel and convenience banner. She partners across senior technology and business leadership to ensure smooth delivery of the company’s transformation efforts.

• In the last year, Commens led the successful delivery and rollout of a new enterprise resource planning system to 275 locations. This complex initiative included more than 80 system integrations, custom development of a new promotional engine and largescale cross-team coordination.

• She mentors and develops talent, ensuring her reports add value and successfully deliver overall portfolio goals. Colleagues regularly seek her guidance and feedback, and she consistently exceeds expectations in her program delivery duties.

Krista Crockett

Fuel Category Manager

Senior Manager of Operations Support

Casey’s General Stores Inc.

Pilot Co.

• As the sole fuel category manager for Casey’s 16-state footprint, Clark is leading the effort to establish and execute a companywide electric vehicle (EV) strategy through strong cross-functional partnerships. Her responsibilities include business case development, EV supply equipment vendor management, site implementation and more.

• Known as a great team player, Clark partners internally and externally to develop fuel promotion strategies, and leads the Casey’s team in outdoor EMV upgrades. She also assists with the onboarding and support of new team members to help ensure their success.

• Clark has earned two promotions in less than four years at Casey’s, and is highly regarded for her excellent knowledge and passion for the fuel industry.

Maureen Commens

Program Manager, GetGo Technology

Giant Eagle Inc./GetGo • Commens manages the full

• Crockett leads a team that focuses on industrial engineering, analytics and IT implementation while working closely with the executive leadership team and stakeholders to address operational challenges and implement strategic initiatives.

• She ensures that technology investments align with Pilot’s goals and contribute to a more efficient, agile and competitive business. Crockett’s hand in strategic planning, process improvement, technology implementation and financial management makes her an invaluable asset, her nominator said.

• Her sphere of influence is extensive and multifaceted, and Crockett plays an important role in driving improvements across the company, recognizing that even minor improvements can significantly affect people’s lives.

Alexandria Deal Manager, Talent Acquisition & Diversity Programs

Swisher • Deal heads all internal and external initiatives supporting Swisher’s equality, diversity and inclusion strategy, giving

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Congratulations to Our rising star, Maureen!

Maureen Commens IT Program Manager

careers.GetGoCafe.com Equal Opportunity Employer

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GetGo is proud to support women’s efforts to be the best leaders they can be. Maureen exemplifies what leadership means by driving meaningful improvements within our company and communities.

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her a direct impact on company culture. In a dual role, she supports sales recruiting to find the best talent possible.

• She was part of Swisher’s first employee resource groups and led the implementation of the women’s group, Women Who SHINE, and veterans’ group, Veterans of VALOR. She also created, managed and directed the company’s internship program for three years, focusing on students from local colleges in northern Florida and historically Black colleges and universities.

• Known for her record of ongoing and exceptional growth, Deal has a reputation for not only protecting the positive culture that Swisher strives for, but also motivating others to do so as well.

JoBeth Edwards

national convenience channel, the company’s largest immediate-consumption channel. This includes collaborating with both retailers and the GPN sales and brand teams to bring ideas to market, execute them flawlessly and conduct post-initiative analysis.

• Her nominator noted that Gillespie has been instrumental in creating innovative shopper marketing programs that resulted in significant distribution growth of Optimum Nutrition AMIN.O. Energy, and developing programs that drive purchase rate and new users in key chains.

• She has received multiple internal recognition and value awards from GPN, including the Growing Our Share In-Market Award for her outstanding shopper marketing work for AMIN.O. Energy and Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey Protein. She is also an active member of the Glanbia Network of Women.

Customer Development Director

Coca-Cola Consolidated • Edwards manages the total Coca-Cola portfolio for four robust convenience retail chains: QuikTrip, Enmarket, Parker’s and Refuel. In this role, she is responsible for delivering more than $43 million in revenue and 1.7 million cases annually.

• Last year, Edwards drove record performance, setting new records in all metrics by 20 percent vs. the prior year, and by more than 10 percent vs. her high budget numbers. She was also the top performer on the Coca-Cola Consolidated Small Store Team.

• According to her nominator, Edwards is considered an internal top performer whose skills and expertise lead her to continually surpass her customers’ expectations while exceeding her goals and objectives. She currently serves on the company’s Stewardship Committee and is a recent chair of its Future of Operations Committee.

Samantha Gillespie

Hannah Goncalves

Demand Planning Manager

RaceTrac Inc. • Goncalves oversees the controlling, planning and evaluation of all ordering and inventory management activities for RaceTrac and works to ensure her team develops a strong acumen in support of bestin-class inventory control measures and internal technology systems.

• Two of her recent achievements are leading the testing and launches of tobacco ordering and fresh food ordering initiatives, which reduced capital holding, increased labor efficiencies and significantly cut down on waste across the RaceTrac network.

• Goncalves is very results-driven and continues to push boundaries rather than be satisfied with the status quo, her nominator said. She is a recipient of RaceTrac’s HEART Award for exemplifying its core values of honesty, efficiency, positive attitude, respect and teamwork, and is known for her mindset of continual improvement.

Manager, Shopper Marketing

Glanbia Performance Nutrition • Gillespie oversees all GPN/ Optimum Nutrition shopper marketing initiatives for the 72 Convenience Store News C S N E W S . c o m

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Maggie Hart

Tove Korth

McLane Co. Inc.

General Mills Convenience

National Account Manager • Hart is a key figure responsible for overseeing all aspects of product distribution for 7-Eleven brands at McLane.

Her work with critical functions such as project planning, inventory management, process improvement and financial management has contributed to impressive sales growth for both companies.

• Her achievements include improvements to the new item launch process, enhanced oversight and guidance on inventory management, and the development of reporting tools that provide essential data and analytics for both McLane’s teams and its customers.

• Hart helped spearhead a mentoring program at McLane and serves as liaison to Texas Women’s University, where she recruits high-potential candidates.

She is a two-time World Class Sales trophy winner and has won Teammate of the Month an impressive eight times.

Jami Johnson Regional Manager

Swisher

Product Sales Manager • Korth partners with General Mills’ brand teams to drive business in the convenience channel and accelerate innovation while working with a large cross-functional team to keep things relevant and exciting for the channel.

• Some of her recent accomplishments include leading the launches of multiple innovative, high-performing salty snacks, and using her convenience channel expertise to influence the approach of a critical strategic revenue management project and improve its overall impact.

• Korth is known for having a meaningful impact on her projects, as well as her ability to quickly identify and act on opportunities while also solving problems and challenges for her teams. She has received multiple internal awards, such as the General Mills Snacks 2022 Year-End Award for Convenience Business Integration.

Christina Kozuh

Director of Sales, Convenience

• Johnson manages sales and profitability of multiple brands in existing accounts while expanding territory into new accounts, among other duties.

She also has a hand in sales planning and execution, new product introductions, inventory planning and control, and go-to-market execution.

• Kozuh was nominated for her accomplishments as key account manager at BIC USA Inc., a role she held for more than two years. She recently left BIC and joined Hostess Brands as director of sales for convenience.

• In recent years, she increased her territory share to nearly 42 percent, and led Swisher in 19 out of 25 top product sales in independent retail accounts as well as 21 out of 25 top products in chain retail accounts. She was recently promoted to regional manager to help drive business throughout New England.

• While at BIC, she was the No. 1 convenience key account manager for two consecutive years.

During this time, she achieved double-digit growth as part of the convenience team and grew her territory by 52 percent from 2021 to 2022. She was also named the top sales manager across the entire BIC organization.

• According to her nominator, Johnson has outstanding dedication and is known for her deep understanding of customers’ individual needs and unique challenges. She was selected for Swisher’s 2022 Vision Sales Leadership Program and is an active member of the company’s Women Who SHINE employee resource group.

• According to her nominator, Kozuh is known for her strong engagement skills and ability to collaborate with customers, which leads to consistent success and a strong reputation as a high achiever.

Hostess Brands Inc.

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LEGENDARY NATURAL LEAF LEGENDARY PROFITS.

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Lisa Krone

Senior Category Manager

Ferrara Candy Co. • As part of Ferrara’s c-store category leadership team, Krone works with dedicated broker managers to support the company’s most strategic customers. She regularly drives strategic foresight and insight activation for c-store customers by identifying both business opportunities and solutions.

• According to her nominator, Krone is known for delivering proactive insights to boost category growth and unlock white space opportunities. This includes leading power hours that focus on shopper analysis, and partnering with retailers to ensure that assortment and merchandising are maximized based on frontend and shopper decision tree research.

• Within Ferrara, Krone is viewed as a go-to resource and strong collaborator. She has received multiple nominations for Ferrara Feats internal recognition based on her retailer partnerships and activating insights. She also helps head the Women Who Lead business resource group.

Danielle LaGuardia

Sales Director, PBNA North

PepsiCo Inc. • LaGuardia serves as the face of Pepsi Beverages and leads its strategic, long-term planning. She guides the business planning and day-to-day executional excellence across all convenience outlets. She is also responsible for monitoring key business metrics, continuous category analysis and launching new products, among other duties.

• Last year, LaGuardia’s leadership helped her portfolio grow 5 percent, overlapping a year in which she achieved double-digit growth by taking an approach that is solution-driven, collaborative and always balances the goals of Pepsi and its customers.

• LaGuardia constantly challenges the status quo and is a champion talent developer who is enthusiastic about building capability and maintaining a positive work environment for all, according to her nominator.

Alexandra Lee Sales Communications Manager

JUUL Labs Inc. • Lee is single handedly responsible for managing all of JUUL Labs’ internal and external communications. She creates and manages the yearly communication engagement strategy and oversees a $200,000-plus budget while collaborating with the commercial leadership team on a regular basis for customer engagement strategy and messaging in all the communications she creates.

• Within the last year, she launched a new email automation platform called Pardot, which enables JUUL Labs to create specific and targeted email campaigns to customers nationwide. Additionally, she led an initiative to migrate, redesign and manage a new in-house content management platform that holds all internal and external field sales supporting documents; this resulted in yearly savings of $500,000 and improved employee communication.

• Lee was the recipient of the 2022 Best Communicator Award, a peer-nominated accolade.

Kendra LeGendre

Project Management Coordinator

Associated Grocers of New England • Over the past year, LeGendre’s role has expanded beyond the convenience channel to encompass the training and development of the entire sales team. The work she’s done to streamline, standardize and essentially perfect the customer onboarding process for c-stores is now regarded as the gold standard to be applied to all of the organization’s customers, according to her nominator.

• Also among her accomplishments in the past year, LeGendre helped create a cross-functional committee, giving associates at all levels of the organization the ability to be more involved in AGNE’s biannual food shows. The rising star helped revamp quarterly sales team meetings to encompass the entire sales team as well.

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Alexandra Lee Juul Labs Commercial Communications Manager

You are a rising star.

Congratulations on being named one of CS News Top Women in Convenience.

We appreciate your hard work and dedication. On behalf of our company, we wish you unlimited success in the future! Congratulations to all the honorees of emerging and established female leaders across the convenience store industry.

Age Restricted Product - Not for sale to those underage. To become a JUUL retail partner or for retail support, contact retailers@juul.com. Product availability varies by state. Confidential and Proprietary Information of JUUL Labs, Inc. JUUL and Juul Labs are trademarks of JUUL Labs, Inc. © 2022 JUUL Labs, Inc. All rights reserved.

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CONGRATULATIONS

• LeGendre works with leadership to coordinate training and development opportunities for her peers based on needs assessments and firsthand observations.

KeShana Braxton Devan Lombardi

eCommerce Sales Manager

ON BEING NAMED ONE OF 2023’S TOP WOMEN IN CONVENIENCE

The OnCue family is proud to recognize and congratulate her on the well-deserved achievement!

PepsiCo Inc. • Lombardi is responsible for driving sales growth for the total PepsiCo portfolio, including Foods & Beverages for 7-Eleven Inc.’s e-commerce business. She manages assortment, creates and executes efficient promotions and marketing campaigns, and influences operational excellence by leveraging data and technology. Through industry-defining strategies, eCommerce contributed more than 10 percent to the total PepsiCo growth on the 7-Eleven delivery platform for fiscal year 2022.

• As an advocate for driving women’s empowerment within the organization, Lombardi leads the PepsiCo Women in eCommerce Development pillar, which focuses on driving mentorship and training for women in this space. She also heads the Organizational Health Task Force focused on recognition.

• Lombardi is a recipient of the PepsiCo Way Award for developing the first eCommerce internship program, which has scaled to 30-plus interns hired into full-time employees over the past six years.

Lauren MacKelcan

7-Eleven National Team Lead

Boston Beer Co. • MacKelcan leads a team of national account managers that support and call on 7-Eleven nationally. Her responsibilities include vertical alignment with the 7-Eleven category team, building and managing annual plans and resources, and collaborating with trade marketing and e-commerce to develop all support programming, among other duties.

• Just two years into her role, MacKelcan’s enthusiasm and expertise has motivated Boston Beer Co.’s entire sales force and distributor partners to call on 78 Convenience Store News C S N E W S . c o m

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RISING STARS

and support the c-store class of trade more frequently and in a bigger way, her nominator noted.

• A recipient of the Leaders Among Leaders Award, she collaborates regularly with the company’s brand teams to create dynamic programs that align with and support c-store retailer partners’ needs and business objectives.

Aida Mekic

Human Resources Manager

Cliff’s Local Market • Mekic processes two payrolls for Cliff’s Local Market and Clifford Fuel Co. She is responsible for all human resources related tasks across 20 c-stores, five Subway restaurants, a fuel transportation team and an additional full-serve fuel site.

Mekic is in regular supportive contact with the company’s management teams in stores, in the field and in the support center.

• She is credited with taking the company into the 21st century by modernizing her department. By building out the HRIS with additional modules, she further streamlined the process and enhanced accessibility for team members. By transforming HR, she created savings for the company in many places along the way.

• Mekic is involved with the New York Association of Convenience Stores and is a member of the local Mohawk Valley, N.Y., Society for HR Management.

Markashia Phillips Market Manager

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc./Circle K • Phillips started her c-store industry career as a cashier at a local Cracker Barrel in Youngsville, La. Not long after ACT acquired the Cracker Barrel chain in 2017, she took on a market manager role, overseeing the largest territory within the Gulf Coast Business Unit. She was recently recognized for having the highest engagement scores in the U.S. • Her drive for operational excellence earned Phillips a spot in the first cohort of CALIBR, ACT’s strategic talent development program devoted to preparing Black midlevel and senior-level talent for leadership

Congratulations to our very own

Kendra LeGendre for her well-deserved recognition as one of the

Top Women

in

Convenience!

Associated Grocers of New England is a full service Cooperative Grocery Wholesaler supplying Convenience Stores and Supermarkets from Maine to New York.

Associated Grocers of New England 603.223.6710 • AGNE.com 11 Cooperative Way, Pembroke, NH 03275

Associated Grocers of New England @AGNewEngland

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@AGNewEngland

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RISING STARS

roles. Soon after completing this program, she was selected for Circle K’s internal Emerging Leaders program, which focuses on strategic thinking, building successful teams and understanding the core business.

• Phillips was honored as Market Manager of the Year in 2020 and 2021. She also plays a role in the company’s D&I journey as an active Race and Ethnicity BRG member.

• Prior to taking on this role, Rudman held several positions within the Thorntons brand. Over the course of her 23-year tenure, she’s been instrumental to many initiatives. She was selected to be general manager of the company’s first travel center in the Chicago market, and was a key partner in developing a standardized store operating system game plan for the new travel center store format.

• Rudman is one of the founding members of an internal Safety Council that is tasked with identifying systemic challenges in-store that can lead to personal injury to a guest or team member.

Lane Reed

Supply Manager East

Pilot Co. • Reed’s journey at Pilot Co. began in 2012 following her graduation from the University of Tennessee, where she received a degree in supply chain management and a collateral in marketing. Over the course of her career at Pilot, she was promoted multiple times before stepping into her current role in May 2018.

• Her primary responsibilities encompass an extensive array of tasks that call for a distinctive combination of strategic thinking, adaptability and robust interpersonal skills. Reed is entrusted with developing, managing and executing strategies for an impressive 2.42-billion-gallon-a-year fuel portfolio, which spans seven states.

• “[Reed’s] leadership style and focus on continuous improvement inspire others to perform at their best and contribute to a positive and dynamic work environment. This, in turn, drives the overall performance and growth of Pilot Co.,” said Catherine White, the company’s supervisor of communications.

Anna Rudman

Sandi Santa Ana

Director of Category Leadership

Ferrara Candy Co. • Santa Ana supports Ferrara’s largest sales pillar focused on convenience, specialty and foodservice teams across the U.S. She is accountable for leading her team of six to be a trusted partner who grows the sugar confection category through improved assortment, merchandising and actionable insights. In 2021, she was selected for the National Confectioners Association’s highly competitive Future Leaders Program.

• Santa Ana is recognized as a results-oriented leader within Ferrara. Among her many achievements, she was recently nominated for a Ferrara Feat award for activating shopper insights with a key convenience distributor in which she helped maximize merchandising to drive productivity and buyer conversion across independent c-stores.

• She is also a leader in Ferrara’s diversity, equity and inclusion space. She is active in the company’s D&I Council and Social Impact Committee, and is co-chair of ¡UNIDOS!, Ferrara’s Latine BRG.

Fresh Food Excellence Coach

bp • Rudman stepped into the newly created role of fresh food excellence coach in 2022. In this capacity, she supports store teams in the rollout of new food and beverage programs, and serves as an operational lens for how the company develops new products and programs. She is consistently called upon to validate new ideas in the test kitchen.

Mandy SteindlKwiecien

Manager of Learning & Development

QuickChek Corp.

• Steindl-Kwiecien maintains

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compliance training, functional training, QuickChek University curriculum and performance management processes for the chain of 161 c-stores and 4,900 team members. In line with Murphy USA’s acquisition of QuickChek, she has been instrumental in driving successful integration efforts. Last year, Steindl-Kwiecien effectively rolled out the Core Competency Model, which will continue to shape organizational culture and competency for years to come.

• She ran point on QuickChek’s first National Leadership Conference (NLC) in 2022. The two-day enterprise leadership development event is for store leaders, district leaders and support center leaders.

This year, 208 QuickChek leaders participated in the second-annual NLC. • Recognized for her best-in-class internal customer service and collaborative approach to driving results, SteindlKwiecien last year received the highly coveted QuickChek Support Center Team Member of the Year award.

Kim Strother Director of Compliance Operations

RaceTrac Inc. • Strother leads a team that supports the operations of RaceTrac’s compliance and safety functions. She also oversees the business licensing functions for all RaceTrac stores, supporting the company’s growth into new markets and new product offers.

• In her nearly 14 years at RaceTrac, she has earned a reputation for embracing the unknown. Strother has been tapped to lead numerous inaugural initiatives, including developing RaceTrac’s first curbside pickup program during the COVID-19 pandemic, rolling out the first made-to-order food program, and coordinating the opening of three new store prototypes. Even outside of her role, many look to Strother for advice and mentorship because of her tenure and broad institutional experience.

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• She is active in two of the company’s business resource groups: LEAD, RaceTrac’s women’s business group, and EMBRACE, RaceTrac’s people of color group. She is also a member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum.

Ashley White Category Manager, OTP

Casey’s General Stores Inc. • White leads all decisions concerning the other tobacco products (OTP) category for Casey’s roughly 2,500 c-stores across 16 states. The business she leads generates approximately $300 million in sales across nearly 500 SKUs. She influences pricing, assortment, programs, merchandising and marketing strategies to advance innovation and a smoke-free future for Casey’s guests interested in OTP products.

• She introduced digital tests on behalf of the moist smokeless tobacco and tobacco-derived nicotine categories, which resulted in increased loyalty to the convenience retailer via Casey’s Rewards and a 20 percent increase in the number of tobacco guests that the retailer can communicate with responsibly (both age and identity verified).

• White has been nominated and won the Casey’s Ultimate Performer Award twice within her short four-year tenure with the company. Additionally, she is an active participant in Casey’s iWill employee resource group.

Kristen Wilk Sales Director, PBNA

PepsiCo Inc. • Wilk maintains a six-state geography for the convenience and gas (C&G) channel, which comprises 72 chains and 7,200 outlets that represent $317 million in net revenue.

She manages a team of 10 direct reports, each with responsibility for multiple key account chains.

Wilk also has strategic responsibility for C&G for four PBNA markets and seven independent bottlers. Her three-year net revenue CAGR is +32 percent.

• People leadership is a towering strength that surpasses Wilk’s demonstrated capabilities in retailer development, her nominator said. Wilk’s employees scored her in the fourth quartile of every category of PepsiCo’s “Great 5” leadership survey. In 2022, she was recognized three times for her people leadership with Raising the Bar on Talent and Development awards.

• Wilk has been the chair/lead for the EQUAL ERG, which represents and celebrates the LGBTQ+ community. She effectively built the group from scratch and implemented a full calendar of activities that achieved Pride Month participation in 95 percent of the company’s Central Division locations last year.

Machaela Wilson

Senior Key Account Manager

Reynolds American Inc. • Wilson heads a team of lead account managers in achieving multilevel collaboration with key strategic region customers in brand building, business development and commercial execution elements for RAI’s traditional and next-generation product portfolios. Her scope consists of 31 states, controlling annual revenues of more than $500 million in wholesale and roughly $3 million in retail.

• Among her accolades, she was honored with the RAI Leadership Award for the role she played in a new companywide technology launch, as well as the Inspirational Leader Award in the 2020 Mentorship Program. She is a member of RAI’s Women’s ERG and consistently ranks in the top 10 percent of the company among her peer group.

• RAI Area Vice President Jackie Tressito calls Wilson a role model, noting that she inspires others through her actions, and drives and positively impacts revenue and profit goals for both her customers and RAI.

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Jennifer Dickey Store Manager

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc./Circle K • Dickey will celebrate 12 years with Circle K this year, after spending 14 years as a restaurant manager at McDonald’s Corp. Among her most outstanding achievements while at Circle K has been her ability to significantly drop the turnover rate. The Executive Leadership Team recently recognized Dickey for her efforts by honoring her with the very first “Make it Easy” Star Recognition.

• According to her nominator, Dickey personifies ACT/ Circle K’s “One Team” core value by helping develop people internally. She has become the go-to store manager for new incoming managers and assistants preparing for the store manager in training position.

• Dickey oversees 13 team members. In addition to her duties as store manager, she performs the same tasks she expects of her team, such as stocking shelves, ringing customers, cleaning and making her customers’ lives a little easier every day.

Tanja Gassenmaier Regional Manager

Parker’s

MENTORS

Jennifer Goschke

Vice President & Country Leader, Global Solution Center

7-Eleven Inc. • In October 2021, Goschke was tapped to lead the 7-Eleven Global Solution Center (GSC) in Bengaluru, India. The GSC team partners with the U.S. Store Support Centers in Irving, Texas, and Enon, Ohio, to support business operations at 7-Eleven stores worldwide, including 83,000 stores in 19 countries. The GSC is currently home to more than 450 individuals across IT, information security, finance, accounting and more.

• Goschke created a structured mentoring program with the launch of an enterprise-wide mentoring application, bringing more formal guidance to mentorship within the organization. Since her assignment to India, she has continued to mentor young leaders across the enterprise and recently hosted a “Leadership Offsite” for the GSC team.

• She joined 7-Eleven in September 2018 as vice president of internal audit.

Kelly Haseotes Senior Account Manager

Altria Group Distribution Co.

• Gassenmaier is responsible for the operational performance and talent cultivation of five districts and 40 locations throughout South Carolina and Georgia, which equates to more than 50 percent of Parker’s total corporate footprint. She will be adding seven more stores to her already-large region and expanding her sphere of influence within the next year.

• Haseotes leads the Casey’s General Stores Inc. account team for AGDC. In this position, she spearheads AGDC’s joint business planning efforts and digital strategy with Casey’s to ensure that the guest experience is exceeded as it relates to Altria’s operating company brands in each Casey’s store.

• Her mentorship transcends the departments to which she is assigned. Gassenmaier dedicates time each week to working alongside recruiters, coaching on specific interview tactics and advising them on the essential elements to pay close attention to when doing checkins with team members.

• Passionate about elevating female voices, she served as chair of Altria’s Women in Sales ERG. During this time, Haseotes and a team of women created a podcast series called “Her Sense of Belonging,” which centered on stories focused on creating a culture of empathy and understanding. Now serving as an advisor to the Women in Sales ERG, she is part of a mentorship cohort through Next Up Cincinnati.

• Since joining Parker’s in 1999, Gassenmaier has earned a number of internal awards at the company.

Additionally, in 2014, she was recognized as a Rising Star in the Top Women in Convenience program.

• Haseotes is also committed to continuing her education in the field of organizational empowerment and is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at Vanderbilt University focused on organizational leadership.

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©2023 Altria Group Distribution Company | For Trade Purposes Only

C ONG R ATS 2023

TOP WOMEN IN CONVENIENCE I

-

V

Jennifer Treasone Senior Section Sales Director, Altria Group Distribution Co.

Shannon Leistra President and CEO NJOY

M

T

Kelly Haseotes Senior Account Manager Altria Group Distribution Co.

You’ve worked hard and your efforts have not gone unnoticed.

Congratulations on your continued success and on being recognized as an honoree in the 2023 Convenience tore ews Top Women in Convenience.

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MENTORS

Lauren O’Malley

Susan Smith

Swedish Match NA

Core-Mark International

Key Account Manager

• In her role, O’Malley leads a team of account sales managers and has direct responsibility for significant national customers. Among her responsibilities are budget management, leadership training and development, customer presentations, organizational development, and delivering sales and profit objectives.

• O’Malley is active in Swedish Match’s Professional Women Rising resource group, where she mentors other women within the organization and helps develop their career paths.

• Since joining Swedish Match in 2012, she has been a valued and accomplished member of the sales organization. Her success and achievements have resulted in her winning regional leadership awards and the national President’s Circle recognition, as well as a career path with notable success.

Director of Human Resources • Smith is responsible for the East Region and supports the corporate operations teams.

She directly oversees a team of 14 and has indirect oversight of more than 1,700 associates.

She started with Core-Mark in 2016.

• The HR executive is recognized for the impact her dedication and leadership have on the professional development of those around her. Most recently, two of three nominations for the HR team to the WFF Conference were awarded to her mentees. One of the most impressive aspects of Smith’s mentorship, according to her nominator, is her ability to foster a sense of community among her mentees. She facilitates a book club and informal networking meetings to share experiences and for her mentees to learn from one another.

• In 2020, Core-Mark honored Smith as the HR Manager of the Year for outstanding performance and her influence on the business. CSN

Natalie Sabin Vice President of National Accounts

GSP Retail • Sabin manages 12 associates and oversees account management for several c-store retailers, as well as high-profile accounts among GSP’s specialty retailers. She is on the front lines of customer service and her depth of expertise is essential when speaking about new business on all three lines of GSP’s business, which includes retail environments, retail marketing and retail execution.

• She is known as a mentor’s mentor. Whenever someone on the customer service side of the company has a question about mentorship, Sabin is the subject matter expert. In addition to mentoring proteges, other managers consult with Sabin to improve their mentorship abilities. At GSP’s annual meeting this year, she received three GDA Awards that recognized growth, diversity and authority.

• In addition to mentorship, Sabin is GSP’s expert on sustainability and spearheads the company’s Sustainable Green Printer certification at its Madison, Wis., production facility.

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Lauren O’Malley Top Women in Convenience Mentor 2023

“I love to support women in realizing their true potential here at Swedish Match.”

Lauren’s continuous advocacy and commitment to mentorship help shape the more equitable world we all strive to see.

To every Lauren out there: thank you for all you do.

For Trade Purposes Only. ©2023 Swedish Match North America LLC

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In 2014, the inaugural class of Top Women in Convenience was recognized at a simple breakfast event attended by less than 100 people.

The second-annual TWIC event in 2015 recognized 58 honorees — almost double the number of award winners as the first year.

Marcia Clark, lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson “Trial of the Century,” served as the first-ever keynote speaker for a TWIC event in 2017.

The five Women of the Year honored in 2019 were JoAnn Saverino, Rebecca Troutman, Jayne Rice, Sarah Bibbs and Deb Hall Lefevre.

Despite the COVID-19 global pandemic, the 2020 Top Women in Convenience event still went on, but was held as a Virtual Watch Party.

Last year’s awards gala was a record-breaking event, celebrating a record number of honorees and drawing a record number of attendees.

EA 10 Y RS

Celebrating 10 Years of TWIC!

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NEW!

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Now available in convenient 9ct!

1. IRI Total C-Store: 52wks ending 12/4/2022.

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THE 2023 CONVENIENCE STORE NEWS TOP WOMEN IN CONVENIENCE PROGRAM IS SPONSORED BY: FOUNDING & PRESENTING SPONSOR:

PLATINUM SPONSORS:

CORPORATE EMPOWERMENT AWARD SPONSOR:

GOLD SPONSORS:

SILVER SPONSORS:

The Top Women in Convenience program is part of The Convenience Inclusion Initiative, a Convenience Store News platform that champions a modern-day convenience store industry where current and emerging leaders foster an inclusive work culture that celebrates differences, allows team members to bring their whole selves to work, and enables companies to benefit from diversity of thought and background.

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37th ANNUAL

NOVEMBER 16, 2023 OMNI WILLIAM PENN HOTEL PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

PRESENTED BY

AND FEATURING OUR EXCLUSIVE

ANNOUNCING...

From the most established brand in the convenience store retailer space comes one of the highest honors in the industry: the Convenience Store News Hall of Fame. This is a must-attend gala event with some of the most influential retailers and suppliers in the c-store industry in attendance, honoring some of the industry’s most admired retailer and supplier executives.

4 REASONS TO SPONSOR IN THE CSNEWS HALL OF FAME EVENT: • • • •

Strengthen and develop industry relationships Be known as a leader in the industry Gain visibility for your brand and products Reach retail and supplier executives and key decision-makers

Join us as we help nurture and celebrate the exceptional leaders of tomorrow in the convenience store industry.

The Convenience Store

Hall of Fame is an intimate awards gala reception, dinner and award ceremony celebrating the induction of outstanding men and women who have exhibited exceptional leadership and provided significant contributions to the convenience store industry.

LEARN MORE:

2023 HONOREES

RETAILER HALL OF FAME

RETAILER HALL OF FAME

RETAILER HALL OF FAME

Joe Sheetz Chairman

Kevin Martello Vice President, Food Service Solutions and Industry Relations Convenience Retail

Andrew Clyde President and CEO

Sheetz Inc.

Murphy USA Inc.

Keurig Dr Pepper

News Future Leaders in Convenience program celebrates and develops the next generation of convenience store industry leaders by providing a forum for talented young business people to hone their leadership talent while recognizing the achievements of emerging leaders under the age of 35 at the time of nomination. For the first time ever, employees of both convenience store retailers and convenience store distributors/suppliers are eligible for nomination this year.

The CSNews Future Leaders in Convenience program provides a comprehensive workshop and networking program that teaches young convenience store industry managers and executives how to achieve their full potential as leaders in their organizations and the industry at large.

For more sponsorship information please contact Paula Lashinsky, VP/Publisher, plashinsky@ensembleiq.com

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FOODSERVICE

Why Differentiation Is Key to Success Convenience foodservice retailers would be wise to find their niche

By Kathleen Furore

FOODSERVICE has become an integral

component for today’s convenience store operators.

Industry data shows most operators understand its importance. Almost all of the retailers surveyed in the 2023 Convenience Store News Foodservice Study said they sell prepared food and hot dispensed beverages, with prepared food generating the bulk of revenue in the foodservice category — an impressive 54 percent of total foodservice sales.

Having foodservice options and differentiating them in ways that drive consumers to your location are different parts of the foodservice puzzle, though, and the only way to complete the picture is to create a program that distinguishes your offerings from your competitors’.

“Foodservice has really become the key differentiator for c-stores. Good food is

what compels people to seek out and talk about a particular brand — and even drive farther to visit one,” said Peter Losee, vice president of marketing for Bowling Green, Ky.-based Bluegrass Ingredients, which partners with its customers to craft tailored flavors and formulations.

“These days, most consumers have multiple stores to choose from on their drive home from work or when they’re out running errands. The right food can compel a consumer to pull into one store over another, whether that’s a busy mom or dad looking to get gas and a healthy take-and-heat dinner for the family or a working millennial who may be making multiple stops in a single day,” he added.

And increasing foot traffic isn’t the only benefit differentiation delivers. It also is key to “building loyalty in short order” and ultimately boosting the bottom line, according to Losee. “Foodservice offerings,” he said, “can serve as an important revenue opportunity for c-stores often constrained by tightly controlled and competitive prices.”

Recent numbers show just how significant a revenue

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FOODSERVICE

Telling & Selling a Successful Foodservice Story

Pilot conducts sample testing in-store to collect in-the-moment feedback.

opportunity those offerings can be. Foodservice sales industrywide were up 19.5 percent in 2022, marking the second consecutive year of stellar convenience foodservice sales, according to the 2023 CSNews Industry Report, while the average gain in foodservice sales per store was $54,956, driven by an additional $44,845 per store from prepared foods.

Tracking Trends Continually monitoring trends can help c-store operators plan foodservice programs that will be ready when a burgeoning trend becomes a mainstream one.

“For c-stores, it’s really all about staying one step ahead of that target consumer,” explained Losee, who noted that Bluegrass Ingredients’ culinary and R&D experts perform that kind of monitoring “to keep our customers one step ahead of what’s coming.”

It is an approach Pilot Co. takes, according to Jamie King, senior director of food and beverage for the Knoxville, Tenn.-based travel center chain with more than 870 locations serving an average of 1.3 million guests per day.

“Pilot takes pride in our constant curiosity to learn guests’ preferences and find new ways to meet their needs. That’s why our chef and culinary team conduct sample testing in our stores, directly interacting with guests and collecting in-themoment feedback,” King said. “Not only does this provide priceless interactions with our guests, but it also allows us to deliver what they desire.”

What foodservice trends are tracking currently?

“On the flavor front, the dominant trend is all about fueling enhanced experiences. Consumers — especially the increasingly influential Gen Z cohort — want bold new flavor combinations they

Jessica Williams, founder and CEO of Food Forward Thinking, believes convenience store retailers must keep three things top of mind when creating a successful foodservice program.

She touched on the following musts in her “Telling & Selling Your Foodservice Story” presentation during the May 3 meeting of the Convenience Foodservice Alliance, a Convenience Store News community dedicated to c-store foodservice professionals.

1. Success Never Happens by Accident Coming up with new products and flavors — and doing that quickly — is often expected of people working in fresh food product development. A better approach, Williams said, is to ask several questions before proceeding. “What is it we're trying to do here? What is it that we want to achieve? Why do you think it's a new flavor that people are wanting? Maybe it is. But are we looking to drive transactions? Are we looking to build a basket? Are we looking to get social media engagement? There may be a lot of different ways to get there besides a new flavor.

Or maybe that's just a part of it, maybe it's something bigger,” she explained.

2. Curiosity Improves Design Learning, listening and asking questions will likely lead to ideas you’ve never thought of. "When we get to have chats with people working at the stores, there's going to always be something that comes up for them that they find a sense of pride in. It might be the way they decorate the doughnut. It might be the way they merchandise just so. It might be that [the store] is really clean. Listen to them and ask them more about that. What is it that connects with that store team? What can you then build on?" she advised.

3. Photographs Impact Sales As Williams noted, inspiration can be found anywhere — which means c-store retailers should look at their c-store peers, quick-service restaurants, Amazon, Tesla, social media influencers and anyone else who's doing a good job of engaging consumers. "Look for inspiration everywhere, use that curious mindset, and take note when a photo forces you to make a choice.

What is it that's selling you? It might just be an experience that you want to mirror or bring to your brand," she said.

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can share with friends in person and on social media,” Losee reported. “That’s a real opportunity for c-stores, which already have a head start in the snacking space where these new flavor innovations fit naturally.”

“The right food can compel a consumer to pull into one store over another, whether Paying attention to daypart trends is another way retailers can ensure their foodservice that’s a busy mom or dad menu includes not only items customers crave, but also some that stand out from what looking to get gas and a they can find a few miles down the road.

Purchase incidence of breakfast sandwiches, healthy take-and-heat dinner for example, jumped over the last year, putting them ahead of c-store standards like for the family or a working pizza and hot dogs, according to the 2023 CSNews Realities of the Aisle Study, an annual millennial who may be making look at c-store shopper behavior. multiple stops in a single day.”

King confirmed that Pilot has been tracking this trend over the past few years and, as a result, the retailer “curated breakfast offerings that are perfect for the morning commute — think of burritos, which are easy to eat while on the road, as well as our recent Sausage Waffler, a syrupy waffle sandwich with sausage, egg and cheese.”

Value is also an integral component to consider when transforming trends into standout foodservice offerings. The percentage of shoppers who said they didn't buy prepared food at a c-store in the last month because it was too expensive jumped 15 points year over year, according to the Realities of the Aisle Study. Price/value is now the No. 1 factor shoppers list as being important to them when purchasing prepared food at a c-store.

The value trend is something Bluegrass’ experts are seeing, too. “One trend that we’re particularly focused on as an ingredients provider is around reengineering value.

Reformulations in ingredients and recipes can help enhance flavors to match evolving consumer demands, while better navigating challenges like supply chain shortages or surging costs,” Losee said.

— Peter Losee, Bluegrass Ingredients offerings to stand out in what has become a crowded and competitive category?

Upgrading menus in ways that move past old-school convenience store fare is a good place to start.

“The industry is quickly leaving hot dog rollers and microwaves behind in favor of much more appetizing options. Prepared food and commissary kitchens have really taken things to the next level in recent years,” Losee said. “It starts with food that looks and tastes good — food that’s healthy and easy to serve and eat.

There are competitive advantages to be found in healthier options, higher-quality options, more variety, and more.”

Aligning with daypart trends can help c-store retailers' menus stand out.

“Our entire approach is based on deeper collaboration with c-stores, commissary kitchens and food manufacturers. Through initiatives like The Agile Kitchen at Bluegrass, we’re constantly looking to innovate, combining technical knowhow with outside-the-box thinking to create new ingredient formulations and applications,” he continued. “From substituting fruit powders for fruit juices to utilizing cheese concentrates to deliver enhanced cheese flavor, there are innovations across the ingredient landscape that can help set key c-store offerings apart.”

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Pilot combines quality, consistency and innovation when planning its foodservice offerings.

Healthier options, in fact, offer a big opportunity for retailers willing and able to commit to quality offerings, data shows. Among health-conscious and health-neutral shoppers, only 41 percent said they are somewhat satisfied with the selection of healthy/betterfor-you foods at c-stores, leaving room for improvement, according to CSNews shopper research.

Pilot is one operator answering the call for healthier fare. “We continue to expand our healthy, grab-and-go options,” King said. “Our fresh-cut fruit is a simple yet delicious choice.

We offer protein-packed snack boxes, with variations based on what our guests are craving.”

Taking a page from the restaurant foodservice handbook is an approach Losee suggests.

“C-stores should consider QSR [quick-service restaurant] and fast-casual restaurants as competitors every bit as much as other c-stores,” he noted. “From there, it comes down to making sure consumers know you’re enhancing your foodservice offerings and using product bundles and pricing combos to convince consumers to give you a fresh try and hopefully start to forge that deeper connection.”

The bottom line, according to King, is to combine quality, consistency and innovation when planning foodservice offerings that differentiate you from your competitors — always keeping in mind the kind of store you want to be.

“First, determine who you want to be as a brand and decide what you’re trying to

“Pilot takes pride in our constant curiosity to learn guests’ preferences and find new ways to meet their needs. That’s why our chef and culinary team conducts sample testing in our stores, directly interacting with guests and collecting in-themoment feedback.”

— Jamie King, Pilot Co. accomplish. At Pilot, we strive to be the preferred choice for all interstate drivers,” he said. “For decades, our desire has been to offer high-quality and consistent items that create the best guest experience possible.

This applies to foodservice, from innovation in creating our offerings to maintaining health and safety standards in our kitchen and displays. Something as classic as our hand-roped pizza crust or center-of-the-plate entrée is the perfect example of innovation, quality and consistency.”

He also stressed that retailers serious about building a differentiated foodservice program should “be prepared to spare no expense,” and King offered one last bit of advice: “Finally stay the course. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” CSN AUGUS T

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TOBACCO

Four Upbeat Tips for Managing Downtrading C-store retailers can keep their tobacco business steady by focusing on value

By Renée M. Covino TOBACCO’S LATEST OXYMORON is here: Downtrading is on an upswing.

ators to pivot a bit and take advantage of downtrading.

Here are four strategies to try:

Pressures from ongoing inflation and continued list price increases across all tobacco categories are forcing consumers to make difficult decisions to either buy less, buy cheaper or try to quit, according to Bonnie Herzog, senior financial analyst at Goldman Sachs.

1. Keep Up With Value Trends

“Retailers note consumers are increasingly making purchase decisions based on what is on sale or discounted, with one retailer documenting that nicotine salt e-vapor products are among the least expensive nicotine delivery formats,” Herzog stated in her firm’s “Nicotine Nuggets” survey from the first quarter of this year.

Inflation and rising prices throughout 2023 will continue to drive tradedowns to off-brands, private label and generics/ subgenerics in the tobacco/nicotine category, predicts Alex Morrison, senior business analyst for Cadent Consulting Group, based in Wilton, Conn.

Some good news is that there are multiple opportunities for convenience store oper-

The most obvious way for c-store retailers to cater to cash-strapped tobacco consumers is to stock more items with a lower product quantity and/or lower price point and then, make note of these value offerings through in-store and window signage.

The top subsegments to do this in are value cigarettes, value moist, modern oral and vapor disposables, according to Don Burke, senior vice president of Management Science Associates Inc. (MSA), a Pittsburgh-based company focused on analytics and informatics.

“Being able to offer a strong product selection of value-priced items, while maintaining the right items in the higher-priced segments, will require some retail ingenuity,” he said.

In addition to stocking robust value brands, c-store operators should also keep up with the latest lowerpriced premium offerings. For instance, Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Inc.’s Marlboro Black Gold Pack nonmenthol cigarettes are the company’s latest answer to offset inflation-induced downtrading among its cigarette smokers. The product became available nationwide in May, coupled with increased marketing support for the overall Marlboro Black line. It is intended to gain

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TOBACCO

back adult smokers who left the Marlboro brand, as well as keep those who are considering downtrading out of the brand.

“If consumers had felt the need to trade out because they were under economic pressure, it gives them a space within the Marlboro franchise where they can reengage — or if a consumer comes under pressure, it gives them a space to continue to engage with Marlboro,” explained Altria Group CEO Billy Gifford.

2. Embrace the DIY Trend

When economic times get tough, consumers lean into the do-it-yourself (DIY) space and for tobacco consumers, that means roll-your-own (RYO) items.

RYO is experiencing somewhat of a resurgence, providing adult consumers with “a less-expensive alternative to factory-made cigarettes and allowing them to build the perfect taste for themselves and making them feel that they’re crafting something themselves,” said Becky Roll, chief revenue officer at Glenview, Ill.-based Republic Brands, which bills itself as the world's leading rolling company.

Considering downtrading, Roll recommends that c-store retailers choose to become a top-of-mind destination for RYO, carving out a dedicated space for this segment in-store.

MSA’s Burke also points to another resurgent segment of RYO — pipe tobacco — and suggests retailers consider carving out a small space for that adjacent to RYO. These under-recognized trends are taking flight for consumers in light of the current ongoing economic conditions, he noted.

3. Map Out Geography Trends

Retailers should keep abreast of geographic influences affecting downtrading or the lack thereof. An industry report released in June found that adults and young adults in 12 states — Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia — have a 50 percent higher prevalence of smoking cigarettes, and smoke significantly more cigarettes per capita annually than people living in other states (53 packs vs. 29). These states also have lower taxes, resulting in a pack of cigarettes costing nearly 20 percent less than in other states. And these states currently have virtually no flavored tobacco sales restrictions.

So, it would behoove forward-thinking

Purchase Pivots When asked about changing consumer behavior, retailers and wholesalers participating in Goldman Sachs’ “Q1 2023 Nicotine Nuggets Survey” noted the following: • Downtrading within cigarettes — 74 percent noted this in the first quarter of 2023 vs. 54 percent in last year’s fourth quarter survey.

• Fewer cigarette purchases per trip — 43 percent noted this in the first quarter vs. 30 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022.

• A shift to single packs vs. cartons and multipacks — 40 percent noted this in the Q1 2023 survey vs. 30 percent in the Q4 2022 survey.

• Shift to more affordable noncombustible options — 64 percent noted this in the first quarter vs. 45 percent in last year’s fourth quarter.

Only 5 percent of respondents said they did not see any of these impacts. convenience store retailers to note and react to fluctuations at the local level the way that some manufacturers are doing.

This could even include making adjustments in promotional spend depending on the locale.

Regarding adult tobacco consumers from different parts of the country, Altria’s Gifford said, “Sometimes they’re in sync with each other and sometimes they’re counter to each other as far as what way they’re moving and what they’re feeling.”

4. Focus on Digital Trends

Now more than ever, progressive retailers are harnessing the full power of digital capabilities, using adult consumer data from loyalty and app-based programs to become more efficient marketers and drive awareness of what matters most to them, such as the best nicotine prices and promotions. The digital space is also rapidly becoming a means of education for alternative products.

“The very best retailers are consciously making the investment today to leverage the data for the benefit of their adult consumer base, as well as their own retail operations,” said Matthew Hanson, chief financial officer/chief growth officer for Chicago-based Black Buffalo, a modern oral nicotine product that mimics moist smokeless tobacco but without the tobacco leaf.

Mike Wilson, vice president of trade strategy and operations for Reynolds Marketing Services Co., headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., echoes that the use of digital media to drive adult nicotine consumer engagement with c-store loyalty programs is a must for retailers that want to outpace their competition. New product introductions and reduced pricing/ promotions are crucial messages for adult tobacco/nicotine consumers in these downtrading times, he said.

Altria, too, has increased its digital efforts at retail. At the highest level of participation, once a consumer is verified, a retailer can provide targeted offers and messaging within its app. CSN

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TECHNOLOGY

The Convenience of Mobile C-store retailers continue upping their game to engage customers on mobile devices

By Tammy Mastroberte WHETHER IT’S MOBILE ORDERING, contactless shopping

or fueling, mobile apps or mobile payments, it has become the norm for consumers to interact with retailers on the go. Convenience stores are stepping up to meet this expectation, while gaining access to data to drive visits, sales and more.

“At a broad level, the mobile phone is this powerful tool in the hands of the shopper and provides retailers with a connection point through all aspects of the shopping journey,” Blake Weber, retail technology project manager at Clarkston Consulting in Atlanta, told Convenience Store News. “Retailers that utilize mobile benefit by driving more customers into the store, driving repeat customers — especially through loyalty — [getting] better engagement and capturing data to provide a more personalized experience.”

With so many ways to utilize the mobile phones that are in the hands of customers every day, the best place to start is with a mobile-first website since this is the first place many people turn to when searching for a brand online, according to Mike Templeton, director of digital experience for Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey’s General Stores Inc.,

operator of more than 2,400 convenience stores in 16 states.

“Then, for those who are more engaged with your brand, getting a dedicated mobile app into their hands should be a top priority,” he said.

“When your brand is a tap away — and they can control their experience with their loyalty program, the offers they like and the messaging they receive — that’s true convenience for today’s convenience channel consumers.”

The goal of any retailer, especially convenience store operators, is to make the shopping experience easier and more convenient, and mobile phones can achieve this in a variety of ways.

When designing and implementing a new mobile experience — whether it’s a website, app or payment option — c-store retailers should ask themselves: “How will this mobile experience deliver a more convenient shopping experience?” advised Kevin D. Struthers, associate director of digital at W. Capra Consulting Group, based in Chicago. If there is no “clear and concise answer to that question,” then the plan and design need to be revisited, he said.

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“Convenience retailers need to understand that adjacent verticals like grocery, mass merchandise, dollar stores and drugstores are now competing for the same-day consumption customers, and QSR [quickservice restaurant] and coffee companies have also achieved high customer participation in mobile programs. Therefore, they must understand what consumers expect because of the mobile experience delivered in those verticals,” Struthers explained, noting that the most popular offerings, measured by driving retention, are order ahead and personalized offers.

Mobile Interactions Consumers today are used to interacting with retailers and restaurants via mobile devices, be it placing an order, paying for products and services, or cashing in loyalty perks. In fact, thanks to mobile websites and apps, the interaction with a brand often starts before a person even gets to the store.

“Maybe someone is at home and wants to see what products are available and the pricing, or they can place an order for delivery or pickup, all from sitting on their couch at home,” said Weber. “Then at the store, there is a variety of ways a mobile phone can come into play, whether it’s mobile checkout to skip the line, contactless fueling, or interacting with an app to check a receipt or loyalty points.”

Future Mobile Opportunities The mobile phone is increasingly becoming a shopping tool in today’s world as technology evolves to allow retailers and consumers to use it in new ways.

“There is so many things coming to enhance the in-store shopping experience, such as using the mobile phone to show the layout of a store, so customers know exactly where to find an item, and even showing them a map to navigate,” said Blake Weber, retail technology project manager at Atlanta-based Clarkston Consulting.

“This is something to watch to see if it grows in popularity, and this functionality can be embedded into an app.”

Another way consumers can use their phones in-store is to scan QR codes or barcodes from within an app to get more information. The retailer then gets real-time data of how customers are navigating the store, what items they are comparing, and more.

“If offering something like a mobile checkout, you can even see what items customers have swapped out of the basket, and also use this experience to better optimize store layout,” said Weber.

Mobile ordering has been a driving factor for Casey’s since the convenience store chain launched the modern version of its app in July 2019. As the fifth-largest pizza chain in the United States, the app allows Casey’s customers to order foodservice along with “hundreds of other items” available for pickup, said Templeton, noting that orders placed within the app and on its website represent more than two-thirds of the chain’s total pizza orders.

“Within the app, loyalty rewards members can also see their points balance, browse personalized offers, and see what is happening at their local store,” Templeton continued. “Having the ability to control the entire app experience, including the features available, the technology integrations and how the app syncs with in-store interactions, is crucial to offering the personalized experience our guests crave.”

Today’s shoppers have come to expect both mobile ordering and mobile rewards, Weber echoed. “Mobile ordering especially is becoming the standard right now.

It’s commonplace to place an order from home or the car and then just go in the store to pick it up,” he said.

Casey's loyalty rewards members can see their points balance, browse personalized offers, order online for pickup and more within the retailer's app.

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“We’re excited to look for more ways the app can help put the guest in control of the experience, almost like a remote control for whatever they want. Our guests know what they want, where they want it, and how quickly they can get it — and that’s what being a convenience retailer is all about.”

— Mike Templeton, Casey’s General Stores Inc. On the rewards front, the data c-store retailers are able to gather from mobile interactions can help them take their loyalty programs to the next level and offer personalized rewards, along with deals and promotions — as Casey’s is doing with its app.

“Consumers’ expectations on personalized promotions are going way up, and most retailers are fairly far behind,” Kevin Hart, senior vice president of fuel sales and new markets at Washington, D.C.-based Upside, told CSNews. Upside’s technology helps millions of people get more purchasing power on the things they need, while tens of thousands of brick-and-mortar businesses earn measurable profit.

Hart explained that personalization starts at the front door, knowing who walked into the store and that they have not purchased a sandwich in two weeks, so a promotion to order one is sent. “That is becoming top of the list and those that fulfill it are the ones that will win this,” he said.

With more and more convenience store retailers offering loyalty programs, mobile apps and even delivery services — so much so that it’s becoming an expectation for common practice — the key will be to stand out, even amongst markets outside of convenience, according to Casey’s Templeton. “The challenge ongoing will be the way in which these retailers use their offerings to differentiate their brand from others in the marketplace,” he added.

In May 2023, the company refreshed its Casey’s Rewards experience in its app to include a quick-redeem option for customers to easily choose rewards, and a lifetime

savings tracker so that guests can view how much has been saved as a Casey’s Rewards member. More than 95 percent of Casey’s customers who use the app are also members of the loyalty program.

“We’re excited to look for more ways the app can help put the guest in control of the experience, almost like a remote control for whatever they want,” Templeton shared. “Our guests know what they want, where they want it, and how quickly they can get it — and that’s what being a convenience retailer is all about.”

Driving Store Visits With Mobile Many c-store retailers are also working with third-party mobile apps to bring new customers into their stores. For example, partnering with delivery apps such as Uber Eats or DoorDash — even when there is an internal delivery system, like 7-Eleven Inc. has — to get their brand and offerings in front of new eyes with the hope of converting those consumers into repeat customers.

Companies like Upside, which offers retailers the ability to list their promotions for both fuel and in-store items through the Upside app, is another option. Casey’s, Shell, BP, Circle K, Speedway and others are utilizing this mobile platform to convert new customers. More than half of the people who visit a c-store from the Upside app are new to the property, Hart noted.

“No. 1 is fuel, but those that list in-store items increase the likelihood of converting a customer by 70 percent,” said Hart, pointing out that listing store items also increases fuel gallons sold through the app. “We tell people if you want to drive fuel sales, turn on in-store items because for those that do, we have been able to increase incremental gallons delivered to them by 48 percent.”

In addition to bringing new customers to the store, 10 percent will join the retailer’s loyalty program when it’s promoted to them onsite, according to Hart.

Casey’s launched its loyalty program in January 2020 as an entire digital experience, with guests given the ability to enroll in the app or online.

The retailer has found that the Casey’s app itself is the leading source of new member signups, Templeton shared.

“The adage, ‘If you build it, they will come,’ has not always been true for companies, but with our guests, a mobile app was absolutely the right path forward,” he said. “Digital has become the front door to our stores.” CSN AUGUS T

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FEATURE

Winning Together The 2023 NACS Show aims to create a better industry by helping c-store operators help each other

By Amanda Koprowski

2023 NACS SHOW AT A GLANCE CONFERENCE:

Oct. 3-6, 2023 EXPO:

Oct. 4-6, 2023 Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta nacsshow.com

MORE THAN 430,000 square feet of exhibit space and more than 1,300 exhibitors await attendees of the 2023 NACS Show, which will be returning to Atlanta for four days of networking, education sessions and product exhibits from Oct. 3-6.

Convenience Store News recently caught up with NACS Vice President of Strategic Industry Initiatives Jeff Lenard, who has attended every NACS Show since 2000, to find out what the trade association has in store for this year’s event.

“We've held a NACS annual meeting since our founding in 1961 and added a trade show element in 1973. In 1993, we started calling it the NACS Show, so 2023 is essentially the 30th anniversary of the expo in its current form,” Lenard said.

The theme for this year’s show is “Winning Together,” as the association seeks to create a

better convenience and fuel retailing industry by helping operators help each other.

“The idea of winning [as part of the theme] focuses on this idea of how you find solutions that help you win shopping trips and customer loyalty, winning more than just the transaction. Because in the convenience industry, there's a big difference between a transaction and a customer,” Lenard explained. “But winning isn’t intended to be viewed as a zero-sum game, where you win and everyone else loses. The together part kicks in because our industry shares more than any other industry. In these education sessions, people share their best ideas with each other and that doesn't happen in a whole lot of other businesses.”

This idea of winning can also be seen as a reflection of how well the NACS Show has bounced back from the pandemic years. With a cancelled convention in 2020 and a reduced show in 2021, the conference is now back at full strength, with a waiting list for exhibitors and attendance expected to hit a high-water mark of about 24,000 guests.

Helping to Meet New Challenges Both as part of this year’s theme and the show’s general focus, NACS aims to help convenience store operators

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The 2023 NACS Show is expected to draw 24,000 attendees over four days in Atlanta.

navigate a changing industry, whether it’s a customer looking for different products or a commuting population whose schedules have reoriented around remote or hybrid work.

exhibitors include companies ranging from McLane Co. Inc. to KIND Bars to PDI Technologies.

Other highlights attendees can look forward to are: • A massive kickoff party hosted at Mercedes-Benz Stadium;

“The biggest challenges for c-stores right now are growing or at least maintaining traffic and increasing profitability faster than operating expenses,” Lenard told CSNews. “You can see the struggle of maintaining profitability over the last couple of years when faced with obstacles like rising inflation, stocking woes and swipe fees.”

The 2023 NACS Show will provide numerous sessions directly aimed at addressing some of these issues, starting with its “State of the Industry Update: Leveraging the Latest Financial Benchmarks.” It’s also bringing back its industry mentor roundtable and expanding its NACS/ Conexxus Technology Roadmap into a double-sized session.

Not content to simply look inward, NACS also has recruited speakers from outside the industry to provide insights on operations and management, such as Vish Ganapthy, director of customer engineering at Google, who will be presenting a session on the company’s culture of innovation.

Then, there’s the expo, which remains one of the show’s biggest draws.

Starting on Oct. 4, attendees will be able to find leads on new products and services from packaged food vendors, fuel distributors, retail technology providers and more. Featured

• Upwards of 200 new exhibitors; • More than 45 education sessions; and • Two co-located NACS events that cover topics of importance

to the industry — the Food Safety Forum and the Advanced Category Management Certification Course.

An Industry With Many Strengths Despite the continuous shift in the landscape of brick-and-mortar stores, convenience retailers have seen some remarkable tailwinds, even with the lingering effects of COVID-19 and supply chain interruptions. In that regard, Lenard emphasized what he sees as the industry’s biggest advantage: the ability to change and evolve with customers’ needs.

He pointed to the ways work-from-home hasn’t destroyed commuter transactions, just shifted where and when customers come in to get a pick-me-up. Instead of morning/lunch/evening rush hours, stores now see more diffuse mini-rushes throughout the midmorning and afternoon hours, drawing in the same number of shoppers but at different times looking for different things.

“Ninety-three percent of Americans are within 10 minutes of a c-store. You can develop relationships with your customers. That's not going to go out of style,” he said. “So, while the old types of customers — the lost traveler looking for a map or the movie fan looking for a cheap video — may be gone, convenience stores still had record sales last year. The products may change but the need for convenience, however customers define it, stays the same.”

Lenard drew those thoughts back to how NACS can continue helping the industry find and support its evolving customer base, returning once more to the theme of “Winning Together.”

“We can make each other better,” he said. “And when we make each other better, then it helps the industry as a whole to become more interesting to customers.” CSN AUGUS T

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TWIC TALK

Harnessing the Power of Mentorship Companies can build a stronger, more inclusive workforce by investing in mentoring at every level

By Angela Hanson

IN THE CONVENIENCE store industry and beyond, leadership isn’t only something that happens at the top of the organizational chart. Mentorship can build connections throughout every level, helping organizations attract and retain talent, keep their team members engaged and help new employees hit the ground running, while bringing together people from different racial and cultural backgrounds, belief systems, orientations and age groups.

Four female leaders in the c-store industry came together to share their experiences with mentorship during the recent webinar, “TWIC Talk: Breaking Down Barriers Through Mentorship,” presented

by Convenience Store News and Altria Group Distribution Co. The webinar was offered as part of CSNews’ Top Women in Convenience (TWIC) program and The Convenience Inclusion Initiative, a CSNews platform that champions a modern-day convenience store industry where current and emerging leaders foster an inclusive work culture.

“I believe mentoring is important because it empowers our employees.

They feel supported and gain confidence in themselves — a confidence they may not have had in the past,” said webinar

participant Julie Beltran, COCO training specialist at Chevron USA Inc., headquartered in San Ramon, Calif.

Several key aspects of mentorship make it “more important than ever before,” according to Anne Cauthron, director of learning and development at El Dorado, Ark.-based Murphy USA Inc.: it fosters professional and personal growth; provides team members with guidance, support and insights to help develop their skills, enhance their knowledge and achieve career goals; and it supports the transfer of knowledge and experience.

“It is a critical component of succession planning and leadership development,” she added.

The benefits of mentorship programs can also go both ways. Jessica Hendrickson, vice president of sales strategy and enablement for Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Distribution Co., highlighted the benefits of “reverse mentorship,” where a more seasoned leader has the opportunity to engage with rising leaders to better understand their perspective. “I think it’s really important for everybody in the organization, not just rising talent, for all those reasons,” she said.

The Building Blocks of Mentorship The female leaders shared varied ways to structure mentorship programs, beyond just one-to-one pairings.

Atlanta-based RaceTrac Inc. has a cohort learning pod called the New Leader Development Track, which provides opportunities for newly promoted leaders to come together and learn essential leadership and business skills through peer networking, self-awareness sessions, lead-

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ership assessments and even a book club.

“There’s opportunity even for leaders who are new to RaceTrac but not to leading to participate,” said Angela Pimenthal, executive director of compliance and safety at RaceTrac.

Meanwhile, Altria takes a two-pronged approach to mentorship — pairing employee resource groups across the enterprise with a formal mentorship program — in addition to leveraging external programs to foster mentorship within the industry, as well as within Altria.

One of Chevron’s mentorship programs focuses on teaching managers and their team members how to conduct conversations that help achieve goals, improve communication and respond in ways that meet people’s unique personal needs.

“A lot of times, we forget to give feedback or we don’t ask for feedback,” Beltran said.

“In this class, we’re actually teaching them to ask their supervisors for feedback more, rather than waiting for feedback.”

Organizations may benefit from varying formality levels in mentorship. Murphy USA has a formal process that matches experienced mentors with newer mentees and takes a structured approach to ensure productivity and meaningfulness for both

sides, along with an informal peer mentoring and buddy system that enables new team members to support and guide each other.

When it comes to the dos and don’ts of mentoring, Altria’s Hendrickson recommends that mentors “invest in relationship building” and she underscored the importance of recognizing that each mentee is a unique individual; the experiences they need and the actions to take may differ from what works for another mentee.

RaceTrac’s Pimenthal advises mentors to focus on listening and understanding. “Seek first to understand before being understood, and then help be the guide and not go to the easy,” she said.

“This is not the time for easy, right? This isn’t the time to shout out the answer and move on. This is really the time to help guide and encourage that mentee to get there. So, I think the listening component is really, really essential.”

Specifics and clarity are a big help to mentees, too, according to Cauthron.

“I feel that as a mentor, we should be prepared to demonstrate radical candor, of course being very respectful, but providing specific and actionable feedback to help the mentee grow and improve,” she said, adding that mentors should avoid overstepping boundaries. “They should feel that we can be trusted to maintain confidentiality within the relationship.”

Beltran believes in giving everybody equal opportunity to mentor or be mentored, which can reveal “hidden gems.” She stressed, however, that mentors need to be ready for the commitment of such a role.

“If you’re going to take on a mentee, make sure that you are going to be there for them because they’re going to be looking for your support through their mentorship,” she said. CSN

THE 2023 CONVENIENCE STORE NEWS TOP WOMEN IN CONVENIENCE PROGRAM IS SPONSORED BY: Platinum Sponsors:

Founding & Presenting Sponsor:

Corporate Empowerment Award Sponsor:

Gold Sponsors:

Silver Sponsors:

The Top Women in Convenience program is part of The Convenience Inclusion Initiative, a Convenience Store News platform that champions a modern-day convenience store industry where current and emerging leaders foster an inclusive work culture that celebrates differences, allows team members to bring their whole selves to work, and enables companies to benefit from diversity of thought and background.

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STORE SPOTLIGHT

Redefining the Neighborhood Store Concept Dash In’s new prototype focuses on the guest experience with a new visual identity, an elevated store experience and an all-new menu

By Danielle Romano IT WAS 2016 when Dash In renewed

At a Glance Dash In Opened: March 2023 Location: Gateway Village, 24755 Gum Spring Road, Chantilly, Va. Size: 5,600 square feet Unique features: A new visual brand identity for Dash In and Splash In ECO Car Wash; an elevated store environment designed to foster transparency and openness throughout the guest experience; an open kitchen at the center of the store; an all-new “made for you” menu; a craft beverage wall

its focus on the neighborhood store concept, reimagining an environment that was warm, inviting and reflected the comm-unity. A year later, the retailer took these elements and began applying them across its network of convenience stores, which today includes more than 55 locations throughout Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

With this new focus, company executives began to revisit the Dash In brand as well. A brand strategy review included consumer research across the retailer’s network in the Mid-Atlantic region and asked consumers why they chose Dash In. Was it for gas, or were they also interested in the convenience experience? At the same time, the company was building out its Splash In ECO Car Wash offering, so the retailer researched how all of the elements available at Dash In aligned with what guests were looking for.

As the company entered 2018 — the third year of the neighborhood store concept — it studied guest feedback and saw that Dash In had something, but the retailer wanted to explore how it could take the brand to the next level.

Fast forward to the spring of 2023 and Dash In introduced a first-of-its-kind prototype inspired by the guest feedback and company learnings of the last several years. The new flagship store debuted in Loudon County, Va., an entirely new market for the retailer.

“It’s the first location where we could debut all of the components of the next-generation Dash In,” said Julian (Blackie) Wills III, president and chief operating officer for La Plata, Md.-based The Wills Group Inc., parent company to Dash In, Splash In ECO Car Wash and SMO Moto Fuels. “This Dash In location fits into our long-term strategic goals because it sets the bar for an elevated customer experience and provides Dash In with a location where we can test a variety of new foodservice and beverage offerings, using this location to examine guest feedback and enhance offerings at our other Dash In locations across the Mid-Atlantic region.

“Our newest Dash In location is the place where we can answer the question, ‘What if…’ We then examine the results and determine how we can roll out what we’ve learned,” he added.

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Elevated Elements Located at Gateway Village in Chantilly, Va., the new Dash In flagship store measures 5,600 square feet. A grand opening celebration was held March 31.

Three integral elements make up Dash In’s latest store prototype:

1. A New Visual Identity for Dash In & Splash In Dash In unveiled the next step in its ongoing commitment to evolving the brand, introducing renewed Dash In and Splash In ECO Car Wash visual identities at the Chantilly location. The new Dash In brand features a script font, an updated warm color palette, and a map marker that brings familiarity to guests.

“The identity informs our desire for Dash In to be seen as a destination,” Wills explained. “And now, the Dash In and Splash In identities are related.

They reflect a commitment to create an aligned family of brands that reflect what our guests are looking for from Dash In and Splash In.” The 48-foot-long rollover Splash In ECO Car Wash on the site is open seven days a week and features four vacuum stations.

2. An Elevated Store Environment The new prototype was designed to foster transparency and openness throughout the guest experience, alongside fresh-made food offerings.

The concept presents an elevated modern look featuring high ceilings, Douglas fir ceiling beams and polished concrete floors. Floor-to-ceiling windows create a bright, warm and welcoming environment, while lower center-store gondolas create a clear line of sight across the store.

Dash In’s open kitchen is at the center of the store experience, flanked by a craft beverage wall on one side featuring bean-to-cup coffee, organic sodas, an extensive tea offering, lime-aid and natural agua frescas. A beer cave and wine selection are featured on the other side.

To further raise the bar on convenience, Dash In team members serve as concierges and float around the store with a focus on answering customer questions and ensuring that Dash In guests find what they are looking for.

Dash In’s open kitchen is at the center of the store experience.

“It looks and feels like a restaurant.

With this Dash In location, we think we have raised the bar for what convenience can look like.”

— Julian (Blackie) Wills III, The Wills Group Inc. Other amenities include indoor and outdoor seating, three self-checkout lanes and two full-service checkout lanes.

3. An All-New “Made for You” Menu “Foodservice is front and center at this location. We think it’s important for our customers to see the fresh ingredients and how everything is being made,” said Wills. “It looks and feels like a restaurant. With this AUGUS T

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STORE SPOTLIGHT Dash In enhanced its Craveable menu with new “made for you” items.

Dash In location, we think we have raised the bar for what convenience can look like.”

Dash In’s signature Craveable menu has been expanded with “made for you” items, including: • Smashed, griddle prep specialty burgers (the plant-based Impossible Burger is available as a substitute for any burger); • Main course salads such as Southwest Steak and Crispy Chicken Cobb; • Kitchen Bowls featuring field greens or quinoa, including La Cocina and Veggie Power; • Familiar favorites such as Stackadillas and all-day breakfast using freshcracked eggs; • Fresh-made biscuits, croissants and mini doughnuts; and • A self-serve, automated shake and smoothie machine that prepares more than 40 different beverages to order.

For the store’s grand opening, the retailer partnered with celebrity chef Spike Mendelsohn to present a limited-time burger offering, the Spike Burger, which was available exclusively at the Chantilly Dash In through May.

Expanding the Experience Dash In’s near-term focus is to replicate its all-new store experience across northern Virginia, and then roll out these elements across the entire chain.

Although the retailer wants to accelerate these new offerings, the company is being intentional about how and when that happens by adhering to a disciplined approach that ensures guests come along for the journey.

“Dash In has always been informed by our collective desire to fuel the journeys of our neighbors through good food, warm smiles and giving back to our local communities,” Wills said. “Our newest Dash In location is a demonstration of the potential for what this commitment can look like when we put guests first and use that as motivation to ensure that Dash In changes the way they think about convenience.” CSN 112 Convenience Store News C S N E W S . c o m

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INSIDE THE CONSUMER MIND

Plugged In Driven by the younger generations, electric vehicle charging at c-stores is accelerating Momentum around electric vehicle (EV) charging is building in the convenience channel. So far this year, 7-Eleven Inc. unveiled a proprietary charging network called 7Charge; Sheetz Inc. surpassed a milestone of more than 2 million EV charging sessions at its stores; and BP revealed plans to invest $1 billion on EV charge points across the United States. All this activity is not surprising given that the younger generations of convenience store customers are embracing an electric future. The 2023 Convenience Store News Realities of the Aisle Study, which surveyed 1,500 consumers who shop a c-store at least once a month, found that:

Overall electric vehicle ownership is holding steady at around one in 10 c-store shoppers. However, a higher percentage of GENERATION Z c-store shoppers (21%) and MILLENNIAL c-store shoppers (18%) currently own an EV.

27%

Additionally, 27% of millennials say it is extremely or very likely that they will purchase an EV in the next 2-3 years, compared to 17% of all shoppers who don’t currently own one.

On the other end of the spectrum, 69% of BOOMERS say it is extremely or very unlikely that they will purchase an electric vehicle in the next 2-3 years.

When making a stop at a c-store, 57% of the current electric vehicle owners said they charge their vehicle every time or almost every time, while 27% said they do so some of the time.

When the current electric vehicle owners surveyed were asked how important it is to them that a convenience store has an EV charging station:

68%

said extremely/very important

19%

said somewhat important

13%

said not very important

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