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7-Eleven Parent to Revamp Board of Directors Amid Activist Investor Pressure

Seven & i Holdings will change the board’s makeup to be majority independent, outside directors to ensure the effectiveness of its supervisory function. Two female and three non-Japanese candidates will be nominated.

2

One C-store Chain Makes Fortune’s 2022 Best Companies to Work For List

Sheetz Inc. ranked 33rd on the list, which recognizes companies that have exceptional workplace cultures. This is the eighth time in nine years that Sheetz has been named one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America.

3

Minuteman Food Marts Inks Deal for 18 C-stores

The retailer will acquire the Mount Olive, N.C.-based Friendly Mart Food Stores chain, home of the Friendly Dog. This expands Minuteman’s network to 63 locations in the Carolinas.

4Walmart Halts Cigarette Sales in Select Stores Walmart pulled the products from select stores in Arkansas, California, Florida and New Mexico. In some of the locations, it installed a new design with more self-checkout registers, and is merchandising alternative items near the front of the store in place of cigarettes.

5

Couche-Tard Converts First Holiday Stationstores to Circle K Brand

The retailer began converting 12 Holiday Stationstores in the Sioux Falls, S.D., area to its global Circle K brand. While the stores’ exterior signage is changing, the Circle K décor, employee uniforms, products and programs have been in place since it acquired Holiday Stationstores in 2017.

EXPERT VIEWPOINT

Menu Simplification: Where Less Is More

A simplified menu can drive down operational cost by lessening some work in the kitchen and reducing product ingredients and inventory levels. It can also help operators meet the convenience needs of today’s c-store customers through improvement in speed of service, writes Tom Cook, principal of King-Casey.

Menu simplification is the critical first step toward optimizing your menu. In its most basic form, menu simplification results in a pareddown menu through the reduction of SKUs. In other words, fewer menu items that your staff must prepare. To ensure you do this correctly, it is crucial when simplifying your menu that the process be driven by consumer insights and data. By doing so, menu item decisions will be based on knowledge and analytics. Each convenience store customer is worth more than they spend on an individual shopping trip. Retailers should strive to know their customer lifetime value (CLV), a metric that is immensely useful as it can help businesses predict how much customers are likely to spend in the future, and can help them make informed decisions regarding customer acquisition and retention.

At its core, CLV enables businesses to understand customers as individuals, not just as a broad group. The difference may seem small, but is significant. A customer who buys coffee twice a week is “fundamentally different” than an every-twoweeks coffee buyer, Jessica Shelcusky, a marketing specialist with Paytronix Systems Inc., explained during a recent webinar hosted by Convenience Store News.

Harnessing the Power of a Customer’s Lifetime Value

For more webinar content, visit the Events & Webcasts section of csnews.com.

MOST VIEWED NEW PRODUCT

Nitro Pepsi

Pepsi reimagines the cola experience with the introduction of Nitro Pepsi, the first-ever nitrogen-infused cola. Smaller bubbles, infused with nitrogen, create a smooth, creamy texture made possible by a unique widget placed at the bottom of every can. This marks the first time this type of widget technology, often seen in beer and coffee products, is being applied to the cola category, according to PepsiCo. Nitro Pepsi comes in two varieties: Draft Cola and Vanilla Draft Cola. Both varieties are available in single-serve cans and four-packs. PepsiCo Inc. Purchase, N.Y. (800) 433-2652 pepsi.com